Gerrit Cole can make history on Tuesday night. Pretty obscure history, but history nonetheless.
If the New York Yankees ace gets the win when he faces the host Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, he would reach 161 career victories. That would match the record for the most wins by a pitcher selected first overall in the amateur draft.
The record is held by Mike Moore, who was 161-176 over 14 seasons from 1982-95 with the Seattle Mariners, Athletics and Detroit Tigers. The Mariners drafted Moore in 1981 from Oral Roberts University.
Cole was the first pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011 following a standout career at UCLA. He reached the major leagues two years later and has also pitched for the Houston Astros and Yankees in a 13-year career, compiling a 160-87 record.
Gerrit Cole helped spark Pirates’ turnaround
The Pirates felt Cole was the type of pitcher who could change the franchise’s fortunes, and he proved them correct. The Pirates ended a streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons in Cole’s rookie year, a major North American professional team sports record for sub-.500 finishes.
The Pirates reached the postseason in each of Cole’s first three years, and he had a 59-42 record in five seasons. Two years from free agency, the Pirates decided to cash in Cole for young players when they traded him to the Astros for right-handers Michael Feliz and Joe Musgrove, third baseman Colin Moran and outfielder Jason Martin on Jan. 13, 2018.
Cole has thrived since the trade, going 101-45 over eight seasons and winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2023 with the Yankees. Meanwhile, the Pirates are likely to miss the postseason for an 11th straight year. They are six games out in the National League wild card race with just 24 games remaining.
Pirates got little return in Gerrit Cole trade
Since the trade, the Pirates have had eight losing seasons in a row and are 67-71 this year. Cole was the Pirates’ best trade chip to land the type of players who could spearhead a potentially quick rebuild. Alas, they received a total of 2.8bWAR from the four players acquired from the Astros.
The only one who made much of an impact was Musgrove. He had an 18-26 record and 4.23 ERA in 59 games over three seasons with the Pirates.
Moran played 444 games in four seasons, batting .269/.331/.419 with 44 home runs. Feliz had a 5.00 ERA in 115 games over four seasons. Martin saw action in just 27 games in two years.
Meanwhile, Cole has been worth 34.2 bWAR since leaving the Pirates.
Former Pirates general manager Neal Huntington deserves plenty of credit for pulling the franchise out of a deep abyss. The Cole trade wasn’t one of his better moments, though, and the Pirates are still feeling the effects eight years later.
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