Los Angeles Dodgers: One reason not to sign each star free agent
By Jason Reed
3. Gerrit Cole: The Dodgers are a distant third-place in the Cole sweepstakes
This one has more to do with Cole’s market rather than Cole as a player, as Cole as a player is phenomenal. I cannot really pick anything apart about Cole’s game. The one thing would be that he was not elite before going to Houston and maybe he regresses once he leaves Houston, but the Dodgers are a team that makes pitchers better, not worse.
The biggest reason for not signing Cole is that the Dodgers appear to be in a distant third place for Cole and may simply be wasting their time in a bidding war that they will never win.
All reports have indicated that the New York Yankees are betting the house on getting Cole and that they will not let any other team beat them out.
Hear Yankees “total focus” right now is on Gerrit Cole. PHI, TEX, LAD, LAA are other teams known to be in but Yankees don’t want to be denied.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 7, 2019
The other team with that same mindset is the Los Angeles Angels, who benefit from the hometown narrative but don’t have as much money as the Yankees. However, they have not been afraid to spend big before, so maybe they keep raising the bid as well.
As fun as these hometown narratives are, I honestly think Cole is just going to go to the team that pays him more, plain and simple, giving the Dodgers no edge for being a team close to home that is actually a contender as well.
dark. Next. 2019 grades for every Dodger
Instead of focusing on a bidding war that they probably won’t win, the Los Angeles Dodgers may be better off just focusing on the rest of the market.