Gerrit Cole took a swipe at the Pirates at his first Astros press conference
The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a lot of people angry recently. Their fans are furious, their current players are mad and their local media members aren’t holding back. Heck, it’s even reached a point where one of the players leaving the team is upset.
That player would be newly-acquired Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole. During his introductory press conference with the Astros, Cole made a comment that has plenty of Pirates fans raising their eyebrows.
After saying it was “special” to be a member of the Astros, Cole dropped this line:
“It’s refreshing to come to an environment where the team is willing to continually put resources into the club and continue to move forward and try to provide the best possible product for its fans.”
That comment can be found around the 5:40 mark of this video.
Shots fired? Yeah, it seems like shots fired.
It’s possible to interpret Cole’s line a few different ways. Perhaps he’s just speaking generally. He’s happy to be on a team that invests in its players and is committed to winning. What player wouldn’t love that?
But the “it’s refreshing” line certainly makes it seem like a not-so-subtle parting shot at Pirates ownership. That seems to imply Cole has played for franchises that haven’t done those things. Since Cole has only played for one team, it’s not hard to connect those dots.
If that is indeed the case, then the Pirates are probably happy they shipped Cole off to the American League. He can still rip them with words there, but he won’t be able to tear them apart on the field as often.
More coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
