Pittsburgh’s Huge Night: Pirates Sign Cole AND Bell

As John and I wrote earlier today, the Pirates signed Gerrit Cole as expected and Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman is reporting an $8 million dollar deal.  But Heyman is also reporting that the Pirates pulled off the upset of all upsets by also inking Josh Bell for a reported $5 million dollars..  As I mentioned in my piece earlier, everything I was hearing was certain that Bell was at best a 500-to-1 longshot.  With the draftniks certain that both Bell and LA’s Zach Lee last year were both unsignable only to see them sign, I think it is time to bury the notion of anyone being unsignable.  Everyone has a price.  And I’m not out to crush the guys who were emphatic that Bell wouldn’t get done, they are connected and they heard (probably from multiple sources) enough to be that certain, but I think after two major upsets this year and last, it will be harder to believe that any single player cannot be signed.

More on Cole & Bell later this week.