The initial offer from the New York Yankees to acquire star pitcher Gerrit Cole this off-season was seven-years, $245 million. It was expected that making him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball at $35 million per year would be enough to lure his services to the Bronx. However, the Washington Nationals blindsided everyone and signed Stephen Strasburg to the same deal that was initially offered to Cole.
Strasburg’s new contract completely revitalizes the pitching market, and Cole will ultimately benefit from this record-breaking deal. It is not often you see two record-breaking agreements in the same off-season, but considering Cole is two years younger than Strasburg and has a clean bill of health, it is fair to say he will earn upwards of $300 million on a multi-year deal.
The New York Yankees must hate Scott Boras right now:
The real hero for Gerrit Cole and his family is super-agent Scott Boras, who waited until Strasburg received his contract details to obliterate the Yankees’ expected offerings. With owner Hal Steinbrenner giving general manager Brian Cashman the green light to acquire a Cole at any cost, the Nationals allowance likely has the next generation of Steinbrenner’s trembling in his skin.
To put some perspective on how much money Cole is about to earn, he could theoretically buy 4.6 G6 private jets with the amount of money he will haul in throughout his anticipated deal. That is an astronomical amount of cash that will set him and his family up for the next ten generations.
However, it is well earned. At 29 years old, the former Houston Astro‘s ace logged a 2.50 ERA, with 326 strikeouts, and a 0.895 WHIP in 2019. He is considered the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, and if the Yankees manage to sign him, their probability of making it to the World Series in 2020 skyrockets. This is an achievement the Yankees have evaded for the last decade with Hal at the helm.
Predicted offering:
Yankees — eight years, $320 million (out after five years)