The New York Yankees got their man this offseason as arguably the biggest name on the market has signed. The Yankees have reached an agreement with starting pitcher Gerrit Cole on a nine-year, $324 million contract that will keep him in the pinstripes until 2029. This contract shatters the record for most total salary as well as the average annual value(AAV) record for a pitcher, which had just previously been set by Stephen Strasburg, who signed back with the Washington Nationals. The news that fans have eagerly been awaiting was tweeted out by Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Breaking: Gerrit Cole to Yankees. 9 years. 36M per. 324M total.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2019
This is the largest pitching contract in the history of MLB, with Cole taking home $36 million as his AAV for this monster deal. In 2019 Cole was short of a Cy Young award falling behind Justin Verlander, who ultimately has only gotten better with age for the Astros. Cole finished 2019 with a 20-5 record, 2.50 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 326 strikeouts on the season. Looking at his 2019 numbers, that would mean that Gerrit Cole is taking home almost $1 million for each strikeout he had in 2019 for the Astros.
The contract with the Yankees also includes a full no-trade clause for Cole, who will look to get back to the postseason and ultimately win a World Series ring with the Yankees. After the fifth year of the contract, Cole has an opt-out to elect free agency. The contract has no deferrals and is fully worth the reported $324 million.
This offseason has gone much different than last year with two of the biggest names signing right around the time of Winter Meetings as opposed to at the last possible second. Cole and Strasburg are now off the market, leaving Anthony Rendon as the next biggest name and Madison Bumgarner as the next biggest pitching name on the market. The Yankees have shown that they are willing to spend, spend, and spend some more so that they can get back to the postseason and hopefully get to the World Series.
