On Monday, Gerrit Cole decided to give up his right to opt out and will stay with the New York Yankees under his contract, which runs through 2028, instead of becoming a free agent.
Cole, New York’s ace, had initially exercised his option to end his $324 million, nine-year contract, which still had four years and $144 million remaining. This move triggered a two-day window for the Yankees to add a $36 million salary for 2029, which would cancel the opt-out option.
Given the short time frame after the Yankees’ loss in the World Series on Wednesday night, both Cole and the team agreed to extend the negotiation period until 5 p.m. EST Monday, which was the deadline for option decisions under the collective bargaining agreement.
As the deadline neared, both sides agreed to cancel the opt-out right and finalized the details with Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
“Maybe the grass isn’t always greener,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I think he’s happy where he’s at. I think he likes our setup. I think he likes playing for who he’s playing for and working for. And I think he likes his teammates.
And I think he thinks we have a legitimate chance to win.” Cashman said the discussions involved him, Cole, agent Scott Boras, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, and team president Randy Levine.
“Gerrit and Hal have built a close relationship, and remaining a Yankee was important to both,” Boras said in an email to The Associated Press. “All understood further time was needed to advance discussions.”
Cashman added that he hopes Cole’s career will end with the Yankees, saying, “Whether that’s at the end of this contract or anything in the future, we can still talk through that. But the most important thing is, the biggest first step is we have our ace back and we’re excited about that.”
Gerrit Cole, a 34-year-old right-handed pitcher, won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award. His 2024 season didn’t start until June 19 because of nerve irritation and swelling in his right elbow.
The six-time All-Star finished the season with an 8-5 record and a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts. He also had a 1-0 record with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman mentioned that Cole did not need any medical procedures and that the team hopes he stays healthy moving forward.
“But how many pitchers are, right?” Cashman said. “I’ll go through the free agent meetings and I’ll go through all the players in the marketplace that are over a certain age and they’re all going to have their warts and some pitch with them and some can’t pitch with them.
But he’s obviously made us feel really good about how he came back.”
By deciding to stay with the Yankees, Cole gives the team six potential returning starting pitchers for next season, including Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Nestor Cortes, and Marcus Stroman.
The Yankees also extended a $21.05 million qualifying offer to outfielder Juan Soto, who is expected to turn it down. However, they did not extend a qualifying offer to second baseman Gleyber Torres. If Torres signs with another team, the Yankees will not receive any draft-pick compensation.
Cashman also mentioned that the team is open to including deferred compensation in contracts, although Yankees deals usually don’t have that.
“We’re open to deferrals,” he said. “A lot of times players are less open to doing deferrals for us than they are for maybe other markets. But if we can do stuff that benefits us, of course we will.”
Brian Cashman spoke to reporters for the first time since the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series, blowing a five-run lead in the fifth inning.
During that game, center fielder Aaron Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors, and Gerrit Cole didn’t cover first base on a key play.
“This team obviously wasn’t the best defensive team that we’ve had, clearly. And this team also had obviously made some baserunning mistakes, but obviously, the Game 5 situation was involving players that ultimately are good,” Cashman said.
“Aaron Judge catches a flyball a billion times out of a billion.”
“The Dodgers won the World Series and I congratulate them,” Cashman added. “I wish we gave them our best shot but you only have a small window to do that. We earned the right to get there but we didn’t play our best baseball while there and we got sent home.”
On the same day, the Yankees traded outfielder Taylor Trammell to the Houston Astros for cash. The 27-year-old appeared in five games with New York, going 1-for-1 with a walk. He also played five games with the Dodgers but was 0-for-6.
The Yankees had claimed him off waivers in mid-April. In Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Trammell hit .256 with 18 home runs, 63 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases. The Yankees also assigned outfielder Duke Ellis outright to the RailRiders.
