Gerrit Cole has reportedly signed with the New York Yankees for $324 million over nine seasons. That would be $36 million a season.
For the Yankees it is third time the charm. The Yankees have long sought Cole having made him their first round draft pick in 2008. However Cole opted to attend UCLA. Two years ago the Pittsburgh Pirates put him on the market but made a deal with the Houston Astros. In 2019, Cole went 20-5 and led the AL in ERA (2.50) and strikeouts (326) finishing runner up to teammate Justin Verlander in AL Cy Young balloting.
Cole's signing comes only 24 hours after Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Washington Nationals for $245 million over 7 seasons. That's $35 million per annum. For 24 hours Strasburg was the highest paid pitcher in baseball. Cole has eclipsed him. But Strasburg will get a World Series ring.
It's a long contract, but Cole is 29 and could be for the Yankees in the 2020's what the recently retired C.C. Sabathia was to the Yankees in the 2009 World Series and the 2010's. Sabathia signed with the Yankees when he was 28. Could Cole be as durable? Perhaps. Or perhaps six pitches into his Yankees debut Cole will tear his UCL and require Tommy John surgery. A far fetched scenario perhaps but what happens if Samson has to cut his hair? But for the moment the addition of Cole now makes the Yankees the prohibitive favorite to win the 2020 World Series.
Still there are no guarantees. Cole has an opt out provision in his contract following the 2024 season which I expect he would exercise if the Yankees fail to win the World Series in the next five years. But at this hour Yankees fans are over the moon.
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