Cole, Yankees reach record $324M deal
SAN DIEGO — Meeting with Gerrit Cole and the pitcher’s wife for the first time last week at the Fashion Island Hotel in Newport Beach, California, Brian Cashman tossed out a literary reference that prompted laughter.
“You’re my white whale,” the New York Yankees’ general manager told him. “He was someone we drafted in the first round and he chose to go to college. And we tried to trade for him, and Pittsburgh chose to trade him to Houston instead. So we’re hoping three’s a charm.”
It was. With the help of a record $324 million, nineyear contract.
Cashman harpooned the biggest prize in the freeagent market, agreeing to a deal with the 29-year-old right-hander on Tuesday night, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement, subject to a successful physical, had not been announced.
After two dominant seasons with Houston, Cole will join a rotation that projects to include Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ or Domingo German, and a roster built around young stars Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez.
“You’re talking about a guy that is the best of the best,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “You’re just hopefully finishing off a team that can potentially win a championship.”
After several seasons of payroll restraint — at least by pinstriped standards — the Yankees increased their projected luxury tax payroll to $247 million. That is $39 million above the initial threshold and about $1 million below the start of the highest surtax and a penalty that would back the Yankees’ top 2021 amateur draft pick by 10 slots. New York is on track to owe at least $14 million in tax for 2020 and even more if outfielder Brett Gardner is resigned and additions are made to the bullpen.
In other moves during the winter meetings:
Reliever Blake Treinen reached agreement on a $10 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers just more than a week after Oakland declined to offer him a contract. The right-handed Treinen, a 2018 All-Star, posted a 0.78 ERA in 2018, but raised it to 4.91 this year. He was replaced by Liam Hendriks in the closer role as the low-budget A’s earned the AL’s top wild-card spot before losing in the wild-card game for a second straight year.
Right-hander Tanner Roark and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
Right-hander Scott Oberg and the Colorado Rockies agreed to a $13 million, three-year contract with a club option for 2023 that could make the deal worth $21 million over four seasons.
Outfielder Adam Jones and the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Pacific League agreed to an $8 million, two-year contract.
The Minnesota Twins finalized a $20 million, two-year contract with suspended pitcher Michael Pineda and a $4.25 million, one-year deal with catcher Alex Avila.
The Chicago White Sox acquired outfielder Nomar Mazara from Texas for minor league outfielder Steele Walker.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball is pushing ahead with a rules change for 2020 that requires pitchers to face at least three batters or finish a half-inning. Active rosters will increase by one to 26 from Opening Day through Aug. 31 and will drop from 40 to 28 from Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season.
The injured list for pitchers will revert to 15 days from 10 days. In tandem, pitchers optioned to the minors will have to spend 15 days with farm teams before they can be recalled unless they replace a pitcher going on the IL.
Seven major league teams will expand protective netting to the foul poles, and 15 others will expand their netting generally to the area in the outfield where the stands begin to angle away from the field.