How the Gerrit Cole Injury News Could Impact the Angels

It could definitely heat up the free agent market.
How the Gerrit Cole Injury News Could Impact the Angels
How the Gerrit Cole Injury News Could Impact the Angels /
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On Wednesday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Yankees ace Gerrit Cole would miss at least the first one to two months of the MLB season due to an elbow issue. While initial testing of the elbow brought optimism to the team that there wasn't any serious injury, Heyman reported that Cole will be visiting Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles to make sure.

With Cole out for the first couple months of the season, and potentially more, the Yankees' need for a starting pitcher just skyrocketed.

The Yankees are entering a win-now season after acquiring Juan Soto who's set to hit free agency at the end of the 2024 season, so they can't afford to sit around and hope for a positive diagnosis on Cole.

The Yankees will likely have to get aggressive in the starting pitcher market, and that could entail them going after reigning National League Cy Young award winner Blake Snell.

Snell has been linked to the Angels all offseason long, and the rumors have heated up as of late.

However, it's clear the two sides have been unable to agree on a fair value, and with the Cole injury, the Yankees may be the team that's forced to meet Snell and agent Scott Boras' demands.

The Yankees are the only known team to have offered Snell a contract, and it was well below his desired amount. However, reports have recently circulated that Snell would be open to a short term deal, and the Yankees may be the team to give him a high enough AAV to make it happen.

The Angels remain as involved as any of the teams previously mentioned in the Snell sweepstakes. But Cole's injury gives Snell's camp a lot more leverage in getting a deal if the Yankees show interest. That doesn't exactly help the Angels out.


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Noah Camras
NOAH CAMRAS

Noah graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Sports Media Studies. He is the lead editor for Halos Today. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, and grew up a fan of all LA sports.