Yankees: Would Gerrit Cole kill a potential Trevor Bauer trade?

Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer didn’t exactly like each other in college, which could affect the Yankees’ trade plans.

Here are the spark notes. The New York Yankees are in desperate need of pitching help ahead of the Aug. 31 trade deadline. The Cincinnati Reds are once again disappointing and figure to be sellers. They have Trevor Bauer. The Yankees could use him. But Gerrit Cole and Bauer had a bad relationship in college while playing baseball together at UCLA.

That brings us to a controversial conversation that needs to be discussed: if the Yankees were to inquire about a deal for Bauer before the deadline, would Cole stop those talks in their tracks to avoid having the right-hander join him in New York?

We don’t know! But it’s something we have to consider, especially when you realize how out in the open this whole dynamic is.

Are we really surprised that a dedicated and serious guy like Cole called out and criticized a rambunctious and distracting personality such as Bauer? The Reds star is certainly one of the best in the game, but he’s no stranger to off-the-field incidents that paint a whole other picture.

Remember he injured his hand playing with a drone during the 2016 World Series and pretty much screwed over the Indians? Or when Cleveland immediately traded him to Cincinnati after he threw a tantrum and hurled a ball over the centerfield wall from the pitcher’s mound when he was about to be pulled from a game against the Royals?

Or how about when he spent this entire offseason calling out the Houston Astros at every turn for their sign-stealing scandal and made his own media brand/company (“Momentum”) to find more ways to call out Major League Baseball? Don’t forget he took shots at Cole for his spin rate increase while in Houston.

Think that’s going to sit well?

Plus, one of their former coaches doesn’t see this feud ending anytime soon.

“I would have to say the odds of the earth burning up are better than that,’’ former UCLA assistant coach Rick Vanderhook told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports. “That’s not going to happen. It’s just not. They are opposites, just such complete opposites.”

Our gut tells us general manager Brian Cashman won’t even bother with this, but we can’t rule that out until Sept. 1 arrives.

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