The New York Yankees said they were not going to be denied when it came to Gerrit Cole, and it seems like they were right.
Cole has agreed to a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees.
The market for Cole was hot all offseason, and his agent Scott Boras indicated Cole would sign this week. That ended up happening, and it comes a day after Stephen Strasburg got a 7-year, $245 million deal from the Washington Nationals.
Cole’s deal blows away Strasburg’s as the richest ever by a pitcher, by $74 million.
Only Mike Trout ($430 million), Bryce Harper ($330 million), and Giancarlo Stanton ($325 million) have signed for more money than Cole. Cole was $6 million shy of Harper’s record for a free agent, and he’s doing it as a pitcher.
The Angels and Dodgers were among the other teams reportedly involved in the bidding for Cole, but the Yankees have won out. This is no surprise given all the reports of the offseason saying the Yankees were making Cole their total focus and top target. They were probably willing to give more years and total money to Cole than anyone else.
It’s easy to understand why; Cole is 29 and coming off a season where he finished second in Cy Young voting for the Houston Astros. He posted a 2.50 ERA with 326 strikeouts in 212.1 innings in 2019.
This deal brings things full circle for Cole and the Yankees. The Yanks drafted Cole in the first round in 2008, but he decided to go to UCLA instead and became the No. 1 pick by the Pirates in 2011. Now the Yankees finally get their man.
