According to Bob Klapisch of The New York Times, the New York Yankees have extended a seven-year, $245 million offer to free-agent right-hander Gerrit Cole. If accepted, it would overtake Zack Greinke’s 2015 contract with Arizona (six years, $206.5 million) as the highest AAV for a pitcher.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported on Saturday that the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Los Angeles Angels have emerged as finalists for the 29-year-old’s services. Apparently, the Yankees are wasting no time in making their intentions well-known.
Cole has been a stalwart for the Astros since arriving from Pittsburgh via trade ahead of the 2018 season (Colin Moran, Joe Musgrove, Michael Feliz, Jason Martin went back to the Pirates), pitching to a 2.68 ERA with 602 strikeouts and 112 walks over 412.2 innings pitched (65 starts).
His 326 strikeouts in 2019 led all MLB starters, as did his 13.82 strikeouts per nine innings, 7.4 wins above replacement (FanGraphs), 2.64 FIP, and 185 ERA+, resulting in an extremely close second-place finish to teammate Justin Verlander in last year’s AL Cy Young Award voting.
Cole was a first-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2008 out of high school, but the California product elected to attend UCLA instead. Clearly, Yankees GM Brian Cashman still has visions of Cole in pinstripes.
We’ll keep you posted with more information as it becomes available.
