Yankees Make Final Decision on Future of $324 Million Ace

Getty Yankees GM Brian Cashman

As the Monday afternoon deadline for the Yankees to either block the exit of potential free-agent Gerrit Cole by guaranteeing him a 10th year on his contract approached, there was some tension around the decision. Certainly, much is at stake for Brian Cashman and the Yankees brain trust, most notably the top spot in the Yankees’ rotation.

As expected, Cole opted out of the remaining four years and $144 million on his contract over the weekend, a move that put the ball firmly in the Yankees’ court.

New York was left with options: Preventing Cole from getting to free agency by activating a trigger in Cole’s contract that was built into the nine-year, $324 million deal he signed with the team in 2019. The Yankees would have to add another year to the end of the contract for $36 million—in 2029, when Cole will be 38 years old—to keep Cole from free agency.

While there was increasing sentiment among the Yankees faithful to let Cole walk, after an up-and-down return from a spring training arm injury, at 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA, and a rough outing in Game 5 of the World Series (Cole allowed five runs, though none were earned) against the Dodgers, the prospect of replacing him while also dealing with trying to retain uber-free-agent Juan Soto would be a daunting one.

It might not have been as simple as triggering the additional year, as there were negotiations involved, but team insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees and Cole, “have agreed to stay together.”

In the end, Heyman reports, “Cole will continue on with his existing agreement with the thought extension discussion will occur later. Both sides wanted to stay together, so they did.”

Yankees Hesitation on Gerrit Cole Makes Sense

Clearly, any hesitation on Cole from the Yankees’ point of view is understandable. The injury to his arm–which began as elbow inflammation–is concerning. It did not require surgery, but considering the fact that Cole is a workhorse who was gone 200-plus innings six times in his career, and led the league in innings in 2023, there is cause for worry.

But in the upcoming free-agent market, aces figure to be both unreliable and expenses. The Giants’ Blake Snell, the Braves‘ Max Fried and Corbin Burnes of the Orioles are the top-of-the-market guys, but none has the lengthy record of success that Cole has.

On his career, Cole has gone 153-80, with an ERA of 3.18. He was an All-Star for three straight seasons before this year’s injury, and, incredibly, has a WHIP of 1.025 and a strikeouts-per-9-ininngs rate of 10.8 in his five seasons with the Yankees.

After returning from the elbow injury, Cole was not his stellar self, and at 34 years old, that’s reason to worry. His WHIP was up notably, at 1.126, the highest since 201. His strikeout rate of 9.4 is also the lowest since 2017.