Gerrit Cole
This is the white whale of starting pitchers this coming offseason. Gerrit Cole has been one of the most dominant pitchers over the last two years. Ever since he was traded to Houston it has been nothing but success for the powerhouse righty. As it stands right now Cole is 29-10 over the last two seasons and has 502/103 K/BB ratio over that time. He currently leads the MLB in K’s this year with 226.
Cole is only bringing in $13.5M this season with Houston and this is sure to change after the seasons he’s had in Texas. If the Red Sox are going to spend big this winter it should be on the arm of Cole. He would be a great compliment to Sale and Price while also filling the right-handed void of Porcello.
If the Red Sox can create a contract that would lock him up for a handful of years at or around $18-20M/yr that may be a bargain. That may put them near the top of the budget but it would also be in the ballpark of what Porcello was earning so it shouldn’t cause too many sleepless nights. Cole would be a fantastic addition for the Sox to not only reignite their pitching staff but to also take away a weapon from a rival.