Aimless Fun at Guessing the Mystery Team That's Reportedly in the Race for Gerrit Cole

Even though rumors are constantly focusing on Gerrit Cole joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, or Los Angeles Angels, those three teams may not be alone in the high-profile pursuit.

There's reportedly a mystery team involved in the running now, which could complicate things.

Hear there’s a mystery team on Cole. Hard to imagine anyone thinks they are coming in late and outbidding the Yankees and 2 LA teams (even if one’s in Anaheim). No idea the identity of said team, but that’s why it’s a mystery.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2019

So let's take a look at who it could be!!

3. St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna during Game 4 of the 2019 NLCS at Nationals Park / Will Newton/Getty Images

The Cardinals aren't exactly a team known to flex their financial muscles, but with a number of contracts coming off the books in 2021 (Yadier Molina, Andrew Miller, and Brett Cecil) in addition to a couple of tradeable assets (Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter), St. Louis can shock the baseball world and propel themselves further into the World Series discussion. We haven't heard anything on them possibly re-signing Marcell Ozuna, meaning there's some dough leftover the spend. But will they be willing to dish out a $300 million contract?

2. Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers pitcher José LeClerc throwing against the New York Yankees in September / Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

With a new stadium and a rivalry with the Houston Astros, the Rangers would be smart in trying to lure away Gerrit Cole. Not only do they have a low-ish payroll for 2020, they'll have almost $40 million coming off the books in 2021. This team has struggled in more ways than one over the year, but their rotation has been putrid. Getting a bonafide ace could get the ball rolling for this team searching for its first playoff berth since 2016.

1. New York Mets

New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran at his introductory press conference / Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Now that the Mets will be slowly moving toward new ownership, it's time to start speculating they'll spend like a real New York team! Why not start now?! Go for it all in 2020 and worry about the rest. A rotation of Cole, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz probably gets you to the World Series. Some other good news? The Mets have nearly $70 million coming off the books after 2020, so throwing the kitchen sink at Cole wouldn't hurt that much. This team has a promising young core, so this move could truly put them over the top.