Phillies: A potential Gerrit Cole trade package

Should the Phillies break the prospect bank for Gerrit Cole?

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak has been extremely vocal about his desire to add a starting pitcher this offseason. His options on the free agent market are limited beyond Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb, and Yu Darvish, each of whom carries baggage.

No name on the trade market is bigger than Pirates starter Gerrit Cole, who has been heavily connected to the Yankees.

Considering the Pirates want Gleyber Torres, the second-overall prospect in baseball behind Shohei Ohtani, from the Yankees the Phillies would have to give up their top prospect Mickey Moniak, the 29th rated prospect in baseball.

Here’s a potential trade for Cole that would get the talks stirring.

Would that package get a deal done? I’m not entirely certain it would, but the Phillies likely won’t give up top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez or second baseman Scott Kingery.

Quinn, Lively, and Altherr give Pittsburgh three potential opening day roster starters. Either Altherr or Quinn could start in center field if Andrew McCutchen is traded, but much of that depends on their health. Moniak would likely be the center fielder of the future in Pittsburgh should that happen, but he’s ways away from being a major league player.

Next: Phillies best offensive seasons since 2008

Pittsburgh ends up with three major league ready players and three prospects, two of which are on the road to stardom. The Phillies get a future Cy Young candidate with two more years of team control to lead the starting rotation for the future.