First, a confession: I was guilty of the instant analysis I am about to condemn, tweeting on Saturday about the Gerrit Cole trade, “Question for #Pirates is whether they could have acquired (outfielder) Clint Frazier in a package from #Yankees for Cole. Frazier might have bigger impact than any player they received from #Astros.”



The Pirates could have had Frazier, but not in combination with right-hander Chance Adams or any other significant prospect, major league sources say. Frazier, who possesses “legendary” bat speed according to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, might prove better than any of the four players the Pirates acquired for Cole—right-handers Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, third baseman Colin Moran and outfielder Jason Martin. Heck, Frazier might even prove more valuable than all of them combined. But baseball history is replete with examples of trades that turned out differently than expected, including several recent...