Yankees expected to make contract move to void Gerrit Cole's opt-out
The New York Yankees reportedly are expected to extend Gerrit Cole 's contract for one more year at $36 million to keep him off of the free agent market, according to Jim Bowden.
On Saturday, Gerrit Cole announced that he was opting out of his nine-year, $324 million contract. As noted above, the Yankees can void that opt-out and keep him from hitting free agency by adding a 10th year at $36 million, and indications are that they will do that. New York has until Sunday at 5 p.m. ET to make a final decision, so the franchise's official move will be known very son.
Cole's $324 million deal was the major league record for total money for a pitcher when he signed with the Yankees ahead of the 2020 season. That was surpassed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto's $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past offseason. However, if Cole does get that 10th year added on, it will end up being a 10-year, $360 million contract. It will be interesting to see the Yankees' official decision that comes by Sunday evening.
Should the Yankees add 10th year to Gerrit Cole's contract?
Cole suffered a significant elbow injury this past season, keeping him out for about half of the season. He returned and was not his normal self for the Yankees right away, but he still found a good version of himself by the end of the year. He also pitched well in both games against the Dodgers in the World Series, which made it disappointing that the Yankees lost both of those games in large part due to defensive blunders. New York could have been up 3-2 in the series heading back to Los Angeles if not for that.
Despite Cole's declining velocity and strikeout rate, he is expected to be back. However, if the Yankees make the surprising move of letting Cole leave, there are options like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell. Would it be worth it to free up the $36 million that Cole take up on the payroll to replace him with one of those three? Who knows. There is also the fact that the Yankees will make an aggressive pursuit to try to retain Juan Soto as well. Replacing Cole with one of those three might not even save the Yankees much money that could be reallocated to Soto, and signing Soto alone without filling the void that Cole would leave would just be creating another problem.
It will be a fascinating offseason for the Yankees as they try to get over the hump and build their first World Series-winning team since 2009.
