Yankees Owners Reportedly Sign off on Offering Gerrit Cole Record Deal With Bidding War on Horizon
The New York Yankees are one of the few MLB teams with an unlimited budget. There is never talk of a rebuild as the team can spend as much as possible to acquire the best talent.
Gerrit Cole is one of those players, and it appears the Yankees will do whatever it takes to get him.
The New York Yankees have made signing right-hander Gerrit Cole their top priority and have ownership-level approval to offer him a record deal, sources tell ESPN. News story on the coming bidding war on Cole and the huge contract he's going to command: https://t.co/4dt1mE4xle
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 6, 2019
Jeff Passan writes that Cole could command a deal in the range of $250 million. The Yankees are one of the few teams that could offer such a deal and still have money left over to go after even more talent.
Gerrit Cole assured the Yankees he has “no West Coast bias” at yesterday’s meeting which lasted 4 plus hours. Yankees believe he’s built for NYC but have been worried he preferred LA. No word yet on today’s meeting with Stephen Strasburg.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2019
Cole is one of the best pitchers in baseball and has earned the right to be paid as such. 2019 was a contract year for him and he responded with 326 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA that saw him finish second in American League Cy Young Award voting.
The Yankees join both teams in Los Angeles as perhaps the only serious bidders for Cole's services.
A potential bidding war is intriguing, because Stephen Strasburg remains on the market as well. If he is signed in the next few days, as some have predicted, the price for Cole will only go up.