The New York Yankees have signed 29 year old, Gerrit Cole to a 9 year, 324 million dollar contract, which feels like what entire baseball teams were bought and sold for not that long ago. According to this website, The Diamondbacks were purchased for 238M as recently as 2004, and the Nationals were bought for 450M in just 2006.
Setting aside just how nice it must be to spend more on one player than a lot of teams do their entire roster (The Marlins spent just 62.91M last season), it’s a whola lotta dough for one pitcher, even if he was the best pitcher in the league last season. The move puts the Yankees just over the 248M luxury tax threshold for next season, and that’s before they make any additional moves. The deal comes with an opt-out after year 5, but I’d be surprised if it is exercised. Of course that’s what we said about Strasburg, so who knows.
Cole became a truly elite pitcher as a member of the Astros, with whom the flamethrower posted back-to-back 200-inning seasons of sub-3.00 ERA ball. He was particularly amazing in 2019, when he amassed a jaw-dropping 326 strikeouts with a 2.50 ERA/2.64 FIP across 212 1/3 frames. That performance wasn’t enough to defeat then-teammate Justin Verlander for AL Cy Young honors, but it was enough to help earn Cole an absolutely massive payday. This deal blows past the eight-year, $256MM that MLBTR predicted Cole would receive this offseason.
Cole will join Luis Severino, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka in the rotation, which will support one of the best bullpens in the game and one of the strongest lineups. The Yankees have just about bought themselves another World Series, now all they have to do is stay healthy and win it.
With Cole and Strasburg signed before Christmas, that leaves Anthony Rendon, another Boras client as the top remaining free agent.
Fan Interference 
Being a fan of a team that signs high dollar free agents… I wonder what that’s like.
Meanwhile, the Rays trade Tommy Pham to the Padres at least in part to save money. sigh
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The Twins are reported to have offered Zack Wheeler 100 million for five years and it wasn’t enough. Got any more Odorizi’s that you can’t afford to keep?
Didn’t the Rays win 93 last year while the Yankees won 103. The Rays payroll was about 50 million? The Yankees 250? Each of those 10 wins that they needed to win the division cost 20 million each. That should make you feel better and worse.
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Yep, it does.
I’m mostly used to players coming and going with the Rays…but it’d be nice to occasionally keep the players I like.
Re: Odorizzi—you’re welcome. I always liked him—but , even more than most Rays, it seemed he was always on the trading block from the moment he first donned a Rays uniform. You’re also welcome for Rocco Baldelli!
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My team has apparently decided that Kevin Gausman is out of their price range….
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The Yankees have proven time and again that spending more than the GDP of half a dozen or so small island nations on one player does not guarantee a World Series. They have been to the WS three times since 2000, and have only won once in 2009, and have not been back since. In 2004 they shelled out huge money for ARod and he bombed in the ALCS, in 2007 they paid him even more and finally got a WS win. In 2014 they paid big for Tanaka, then they paid even bigger for Stanton a few years later, with not even a WS appearance to show for it.
Why should this time be any different?
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Yeah, maybe if the team is the Orioles. Hehe
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Ooh! Shots fired!
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Ackcherley, if the Feesh sold for a billion and change, Cole still comes up way short in his efforts to become the next Beep Beep. I mean, if the Feesh went for over a billion, where is he gonna find a cheaper franchise? Hah?
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