After calling himself “unemployed” and saying he would speak with media as “an affiliate of myself” following Wednesday night’s loss in Game 7 of the World Series, Astros starter Gerrit Cole clarified his comments.



“I was upset, and my tone did not come off quite the way I wanted it to,” Cole said Thursday. “One win away. We had the lead with eight outs to go. It’s just a tough pill to swallow.”



In the short time since the game had ended, Cole was dwelling on the team’s extraordinary season that came up short. He did not want the focus to be on his role or lack thereof in the game. He did not want to be bombarded with inevitable questions about how manager A.J. Hinch did not use him out of the bullpen or about the expectations for his upcoming free agency.



When a member of the Astros' media relations staff asked Cole to step into a media scrum in the clubhouse, Cole pushed back and suggested that he did not have to do interviews because, with the season over, he no longer was employed by the Astros.



“The comments were intended to be lighthearted, but also truthful in the sense that I don’t want to be talking about free agency and I don’t want to be addressing those comments 20 minutes after such a team loss,” Cole said.



Cole also explained that the Boras Corp. hat, which had the insignia of his agent, Scott Boras, he wore after Game 7 did not have anything to do with his relationship with the Astros. Cole had been wearing the hat for three months, mostly on days that he started, as “a good luck charm.”



He said he did not intend to disappoint or offend fans.



“My wife and I just are so comfortable here,” Cole said. “It’s been such a great environment for the family. It’s been such a wonderful opportunity from a pitching standpoint, from making lifelong friends — anybody that gets to hang around the unique people on our team, like José Altuve, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, we have one of the best managers in the game, A.J.



“I’m really grateful for this experience. I’ve loved every minute of it. I'm not saying goodbye, by any means. I truthfully don’t have a crystal ball. I could speak to what I know. And I know that I've loved every second here and I loved competing with the guys.”

Cole declined to discuss his priorities in free agency and whether he expects to re-sign with Houston or move on.



“The rest isn’t up to me,” he said. “I don’t know what they're going to do. I don’t have control over the situation.”



Cole said that, as far as he knows, the Astros and his agent did not engage in contract discussions this season.



Cole also refuted the assumption that he would prefer to play for a West Coast team. Before the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, Astros outfielder Josh Reddick had mentioned that Cole, a Southern California native, “probably wants to be closer to home,” and “it’s definitely going to be west of Nevada.”



“No, that’s not a fair assumption,” Cole said Thursday. “I never said that.”



Reddick also addressed a tension felt among Astros fans that the organization would not be willing to match the $200 million-plus contract Cole likely will reap on the free-agent market.



“If they wanted to make that move and get over the fact of paying the luxury tax fee, then I think it’s no problem for them,” Reddick said. “You get paid on what you’ve done recently. (Cole has) been doing leaps and bounds above what anybody else has done.”



In the regular and postseason combined, Cole went 24-6 with a 2.39 ERA and 373 strikeouts in 249 innings.