After a 2018 offseason that saw them largely sit out the open market auctions for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, it appears as if the Yankees will take a more active role in pursuing a top free agent in the 2019 offseason. According to Andy Martino of SNY.tv, the “early feel” from conversations with sources is that the New York organization will at least “engage” with Astros ace Gerrit Cole this winter. At the same time, Martino downplays the likelihood of a successful pursuit.
The Yankees-Cole connection is a longstanding one, so it’s no surprise to see it continue now that Cole is nearing the open market. It was Yankees GM Brian Cashman, after all, that almost landed Cole from the Pirates in 2017–although Pittsburgh ultimately passed on a trade package that was said to center around outfielder Clint Frazier. The Yankees also pursued Cole, a lifelong Yankee fan, back in 2008 when it made him the 28th overall pick in the Rule IV draft (Cole ultimately opted to attend UCLA). After two near-misses, the 2019 offseason should offer Cashman his clearest shot yet at bagging the now-29-year-old Cole.
It’s obvious there’s some level of interest. But it’s equally clear there are significant barriers to Cole donning pinstripes. The New York org could find itself bidding against numerous other teams for Cole’s services, many of which play in or near his native Southern California. And luxury tax implications could prove fateful here. While the Yankees could clear roughly $30MM off 2019’s salary outlay merely by letting CC Sabathia, Dellin Betances, Brett Gardner, and Didi Gregorius head for other pastures, the club would still have some bending to do if it wanted to both sign Cole and avoid a second consecutive year paying CBT overages.
The Yankees already have over $130MM in salary commitments on the books for 2019 before accounting for forthcoming arb raises (including those for Aaron Judge and James Paxton). Since they exceeded the luxury tax line by more than $20MM and paid a 20% overage with a 12% surcharge in 2018, they would incur a 30% tax on every dollar spent over the CBT threshold in 2020 if they again exceed the line, per terms agreed to as part of the 2016 CBA. Still, it’s worth noting that these considerations apparently won’t count the New York powerhouse out of the Cole sweepstakes unequivocally–even if Cashman will have to pull on his creative reserves to make such an acquisition feasible.
STOP IT
STOP WHAT?
Yankees should try to win without spending a gazillion dollars. Oh wait. They can’t. Carry on and sign the Cole Train…
“Yankees Reportedly Expected To Pursue Gerrit Cole”
–
I’m shocked….SHOCKED I tell you!
Has anyone else in the American sports media picked up this story?
Funny I didn’t hear you whine about Boston having the biggest payroll in baseball when they won, or about the LA Dodgers for that matter.
By the way, the majority of the team is now younger and quite a few cost-controlled.
It’s professional baseball with a team worth billions, that took $1.4 billion from the city to build the stadium and they should have revenue approaching $700 million for 2019. They can and should spend what it takes to put the team in the best position to win and fans should not be okay with ownership if they use the luxury tax as a way to keep costs down.
Also, the Yankees didn’t tank for years so they could get better draft picks. I’ll take the guys paying players rather than owners pleading poor so they can get picks and keep revenue sharing dollars.
It will be an interesting off season. I am hopeful they can find a way to move Stanton to the Dodgers, selling him on going home and the Dodgers needing a splash after failing this year and a big right handed bat. I am certain the Yankees have to get him down to a 20 million dollar a year player, but certainly doable. Also have to explore the trade market for Gary Sanchez. He is still young and under team control, but just too many swing and misses and doesn’t block balls well at all. Should be a market. Then have to decide what to do with Didi. Should be an interesting off season.
Stantons unmovable right now in a year where he didnt play and that contract, the dodgers wont want him. Didi will get a QO. And Sanchez isnt going anywhere, hes still looked at as a premiere catcher in the league. Plus who would you think could be signed to replace him? No one is even available. They need to focus on pitching pitching and pitching
they can, cashman can’t
I doubt that Stanton would need to be convinced to return to LA, I’m just not sure how you convince LA to take him?
What about a bad contract swap with the Angels, Pujols for Stanton, It’s two years of Terrible vs 10.
I wouldn’t say no one is available, there is Yasmani Grandal.
@sherlock_
Astros should try without tanking for several years so they can get all of those top 10 1st round selections.
Let’s see…
2009-Lost 88 games and drafted Deshields
2010-Lost 86 games and drafted Springer 11th overall
2011- Lost 106 games and drafted Correa #1 overa
2012- Lost 107 games and drafted Appel #1 overall
2013- Lost 111 games and they drafted Braidy Aikens,
2014-Because they failed to sign Aikens they were awarded the #2 overall pick and drafted Bregman. They also lost 92 games the year before and used their own #5 overall pick to draft Kyle Tucker.
So over a 5 year period where the Astros lost, on average, 100 games which included having the worst record in all of mlb in 3 consecutive years netted them 7 picks in the top 11 including three #1 picks, a #2 and a #5. EXCELLENT JOB.
They also kick started the rebuild by trading home grown hero’s Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman.
So don’t sit on your high horse dude. There’s more than one way to build a championship team and I’m not even mad at teams that have the luxury to tear it down to the bones and rebuild. Sucks for the fans tho..
Yanks on the other hand, seldom tank (84 wins or better since 1996. No losing seasons since 1992.). And while the back bone of almost every championship contending NY team was built off homegrown players, efforts to maintain that core and to add talent is what separated the Yanks from the rest of the league financially because keeping Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Williams and Pettite while tring to improve the team cost a ton of money as will Judge, Severino, Sanchez, Andujar, Torres and others moving fwd.
Having bloated contracts of aging vets like Sabathia, Arod, Tex, Giambi, etc come with the territory when a team is trying to maintain competitiveness. Seldom do you hear of the Yanks trading vets for prospects, except the retooling Cashman did a couple of years ago and brought in a slew of prospects including Torres (Chapman trade), Tate (Beltran trade used to get Britton), Sheffield and Frazier ( Miller trade and Sheff was used to get Paxton), Guzman (McCann trade and later used to get Stanton). so on and so on.
So say what you want about our payroll, I’ve never had to endure watching my favorite players be traded or suffer thru a SINGLE losing season let alone multiple bottom of the barrel seasons.
Cash has collected Hicks, Didi, Voit, Green. Severino, Judge, Sanchez, Andujar, Torres, German, Montgomery, Urshela, etc WITHOUT having to spend any large sums of money. Has become better at drafting and international signings and still has the might to go after almost any FA. If he can become better and transitioning in SP and getting from them what they’ve done from other organizations then he will put the Yanks in a situation where they DON’T have to sign every major FA each winter. In fact, other than retaining his own FA and acquiring 1 ace like Cole or Strasburg then the Yanks really don’t have any major needs this winter. Be afraid. Laugh as much as you want about our salary but it’s a byproduct of wanting to win each and every season. NY fan base won’t allow him to dump star players and suffer thru a rebuild so they can have high draft picks.
@jonnyzuck
You are right but let’s not ignore how much money they’ve made for the surrounding economy in the Bronx. You take the stadium away from the area and the quality of live and business would plummet. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Also, I don’t necessarily blame Hal for wanting to reset things every few years. If the A’s sign a FA they won’t face penalties. If the Yanks do the lux tax could be $3 dollars for every $1 dollar spent. At some point you would want that to restart.
But for Cole, I don’t think it’ll be a deterrent because a true ace like him at his age doesn’t come around that often.
@Ciaban
People are getting carried away with this Stanton issue. He was hit in the face in 2016 which caused him to miss 50 games. He then went on to play 158 and 159 games in 2017 and 2018. While his 2018 was an “off year” he did produce a r WAR year with 38 homers and .852 OPS. That’s a fall off from his MVP year but it was still a very good year. It’s basically about the same kind of offensive production that Harper, Manny, Chapman and Donaldson had minus any defensive value.
There’s no reason to think he won’t be able to stay healthy for a few seasons and earn his worth in those years. Let’s not act like he’s sustaining a David Wright kind of injury. The contract is OBVIOUSLY risky because of it’s length but let’s not act like he’s a complete bust.
@southbeachbully
Nice analysis but remember they only won the WS bc of Verlander and his giant contract so it’s not like they won with a teeny payroll. JV is just one of a few guys that made a fair amount to a lot that year.
Astros won spending,Sox won spending, and Nats are winning spending, maybe these other owners should spend more
They need stability behind the plate. Work a multiplayer deal which includes mike zunino. A way better defensive catcher, knows how to handle pitchers, and will still hit some homers.
Personally think Romine and Higgy could be serviceable. Certainly frame and block better. No they won’t hit 30 plus homers but won’t bat .110 in the playoffs either and are cheap. Sanchez is still viewed as a commodity with 2 years of control.
Boston and LA fans love to throw stones from their glass houses. What makes me laugh even more are the Angel’s fans that actually think their team is going to spend money to get better. They still haven’t figured out that the Angels are happy being a .500 team as long as they keep making money. They signed Trout and that’ll be it except of course for which ever reclamation project pitchers they can scrounge up off the bottom of the barrel.
By LA I mean the Dodgers of course.
Taxpayers and the Yankees split $450 million, the rest of the cost was covered by diverted revenue sharing
Keep dreaming Yankees. I think they get outbid again just like on Corbin last year. This isn’t George’s team anymore son Hal just wants to pocket the money.
I am not one of the fans screaming to spend money. On the contrary, if Chapman opts our see ya. I love Didi but he is going to be expensive and we have internal options in Torres, Wade and Estrada. I think both those guys are major leaguers who just need a shot. Andujar can become your DH if 1st base doesn’t work out. That is why I believe you move Stanton even at a discount. Need less swing and miss guys. Pitching wise, Montgomery, Garcia and King could fill the back end of the rotation if and it is a big if German is reinstated. Liked what I saw from farm system arms out of the pen in Loiasiaga, Cessa. They have many plus arms that can come quick in the pen.
Yawnkees. Next!
In other news, water is wet.
Isn’t the it the theory that water just feels wet but isn’t actually wet?
My head just exploded…..
This, water is in fact, by definition, not wet.
Water isn’t wet. Water leaves you feeling wet.
false
Get a thesaurus kid.
So the Jays arent interested?
LOL!
Boras is going to go for the money in long drawn out negotiations, the Yankees will drive up the price and that means unless Cole overrides Boras, Cole is going to the Yankees.
If Cole signs early, he’ll sign with the Angels. If he signs well into next year, he’ll sign with the Yankees.
Just my prediction.
Good thing they drafted in the first round. He turned them down for the college life.
Watch him end up on Southern California wear brown.
I’d be shocked if he ended up as a Padre. But it’s not like I know anything you don’t.
Hosmer deal looks worse and worse. If they hadnt made that huge blunder, I’d see them as the NL team with the best chance at signing him.
Honestly, I think LAD comes in and scoops up Cole.
I guess the yanke$$ tried to low ball him back then?
Not at all. The story is that he and his father discussed he would command a bigger signing bonus if he went #1 overall instead of the bonus he would receive as the 28th pick of the Yankees.
@koz16
That’s absolutely not true. They were telling teams he was going to UCLA. That’s why he was there for the Yanks to shoot their shot at him. They thought that because he was a big Yankee fan coupled with #!1 overall offer they might be able to change his mind. He took a shot and whiffed.
I don’t think any of the teams drafted ahead of the Yanks would’ve had a problem with signing him to #1 overall money. I don’t think there were any penalties in place for teams to overspend on a draftee back then. Everyone new he had #1 overall written all over him.
Everyone thought Josh Bell was going to college too and that’s why he was drafted in the 2nd round. He was seen as a top 10 prospect in that draft.
it made sense for the yanks to try, though.
if you get him, great.
if not, you got the pick back the next season (which they did, since their regular 2009 pick ended up going to the angels, who took trout with it).
no harm, no foul in that case
It is true: latimes.com/sports/story/2019-10-14/gerrit-cole-sp…
@koz16
Those are 2nd hand sources. Cole was not a diamond in the rough. He would’ve gone #1 if teams thought they could sign him AND the Yanks offered him #1 overall money. It’s not like the Yanks offered him late 1st round money. So no. He slipped down to them because teams felt he was going to UCLA and didn’t want to blow a top 10 pick, especially when they had other perceived studs in that class. Posey, Hosmer, Alvarez, etc.
Obviously I wasn’t in their front office but I can’t imagine Cash would low ball Cole knowing he could waste the pick with a low offer. If Boras was demanding a high bonus then let’s assume the Yanks would easily pony up. There were no penalties for go over slot back then. My guess was doing his job and trying to tempt Cole by saying “Are you really going to turn down this (enter amount)?
I would hardly consider Cole’s father and his pitching coach second hand sources. These are people that were in his inner circle at that time regarding his career path. But I do agree that the Yankees probably didn’t low-ball him. His father seems to be pretty smart. The insurance policy he took on Gerrit shows he was confident his son would only get better and 1-1 money will only increase if he waited.
The risk the Yankees took would probably be one I’d take 10 times out of 10 because I’d be reasonably confident I would never have a pick that high in the draft when he declared. This whole “Cole spurned the Yankees” story is just filler for clicks. Any smart team that was consistently putting a winner out there would sacrifice allotted funds to sign highly projectable players at the risk of having less in their coffers for lower picks.
The Yankees were smart to try, as much as it pains me to compliment the Yankees, they made the the right move.
And just to clarify. I interpret 2nd hand sources as those removed from the event by a few steps. These individuals were not. But if you see it as anyone besides Cole then I’d get that, strongly disagree, but I’d get that
Angels, for sure.
“unless Cole overrides Bora” That’s the way things work. Nowhere does the player work for the agent.
Yes and no. I think Boras has more influence than you think. Most players who hire Boras listen to Boras.
Same goes for actors.
Not always tho. Jason Varitek, Xander Bogaerts, Strasburg, Jared weaver are ones can think of top of my head.
*Boras
We new what you meant.
It’s cool….
jorge78 “We new what you meant”.
If that was on purpose, that’s the funniest post I’ve read in weeks.
The Angels won’t offer enough to sign Cole.
Hal Steinbrenner believes in rigid budgets.
He is so different from his late dad.
Bank on Houston owner JimCrane finding a way to afford Cole in 2020 and years beyond.
@ctyank7
Hal is so “rigged” that when Stanton, a player they didn’t need and had no expectations on pursuing, literally fell in his lap Hal gave him the green light to acquire what was then the highest contract in sports. That’s not exactly demonstrative of someone who believes in “rigid budgets”.
He didn’t just put Corbin’s money back in his pocket. He spent more in terms of aav by signing Happ, DJ, Britton and Ottavino. CC and Gardner were already on the books. I would have to imagine that if they signed Corbin then they would’ve passed on one or two of Happ, Ottavino or Britton. Even DJ was seen as a luxury at the time. I think he was more of a back up plan should Tulo pull a Tulo by April 15th.
You guys are getting way too carried away with that narrative. Looking at a player and pre-determining what you’re willing to pay for them in FA isn’t being rigid. It’s being disciplined. Right or wrong I don’t blame them. It’s like playing poker. You have to come to grips that you don’t need to ante into every pot. Sometime you draw a line and stick to it. Cole is a bit different. He can change the fortunes of a lot of teams for a number of years. Even still, you have to be wiling to walk away if the ask is too crazy. As bad as the Yanks need him, what if something silly like $40 x 8 is what Boras is asking/getting offered? He should probably still do it but you have to figure the last few years of that deal won’t be a pretty thing.
Yankees declined Gardner’s option and re-signed him. Technically wasn’t on the books. CC also wasn’t on the books either.
Dumbest move he has made. Stanton already has proven that and it’ll get worse. He’s breaking down already. His love of shiny things and a perceived bargain still poke through his budgets.
I’ve been saying for years that Hal is rigged
@WereAllJustGuestsHere
Gardner resigned on Oct 31st. Sabathia on Nov 7th. Corbin signed with the Nationals on Dec 7th.
Sbb- facts don’t work on these guys. Only Yankee hatred.
…and they didn’t have to be re-signed. Thanks.
Stanton is actually a very hard worker and wants to be out there and works on recovery. even when he was injured, he was still in the dugout cheering them on. after each at bat he’s studying the tape, the dude is a dedicated player. injuries suck but atleast he’s not Cespedes.
No one said he wasn’t working hard. Ellsbury is working hard. Doesn’t mean he’ll be durable.
Why would he sign with the Angels when the Phillies will offer more money and the Yankees a better team?
1. Philly won’t offer more money.
2. West. Coast. That’s Cole’s well known preference.
Well said
No player needs to override their agent, all agents work for the player who makes the final decision. If an agent ever needs to have a decision overridden by a player the player has a bad agent and will get a new one.
I wish people would stop calling big free agents a “sweepstakes.” In a sweepstakes, you win money, in free agency you dole out money. It is not a sweepstakes, it’s more like buying a car. Sorry to be pedantic, but it’s just a pet peeve of mine.
Fifteen years ago the Angels won the Vlad sweepstakes. Seven years ago they lost the Hamilton sweepstakes.. Some people will say they lost the Pujols sweepstakes, but the Angels singed a 3 billion dollar TV contract right after signing Pujols, so they may have won that sweepstakes as well.
Sweepstakes seems appropriate. But no one will know who will win/lose this sweepstakes for years.
Angels, for sure.
Being an Angel fan, I hope you are right. But I’m not so confident.
Lefty has said it so often and with such conviction I’m beginning to think it’s already been signed. Lol
I do hope you’re right though.
Angels 7/$235-240 is my guess.
Lol it’s almost certainly the Yankees or the Phillies. More money and better teams.
Philly won’t bid that high lol. They’ll probably sign Strasburg or Wheeler.
Not a NYY fan, but will be sad Popeye is leaving, he was a pesky player who drove teams nuts . Isn’t making it known you want to sign Cole the same thing as tampering?
Why do the Yankees care about the luxury tax? They’re loaded. Exceeding the line where your top draft pick drops by 10 spots is one thing but if all they have to do is pay more money I feel like their reaction should be “We’ll pay that **** too!”
@Show Me Your Tatis
I kind of agree with you but if it’s 30% of a $250 mil signing then what they are actually paying is $325 mil with that $75 mil going to small market teams you’re competing against. That kind of sucks. I’m thinking that’s how it works. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong. I think lux tax money is distributed to lower revenue teams.
@ south beach
Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t thing the luxury tax works like that. The tax isn’t on the entire new contract, it’s on team payroll above the tax line (2020 is $208m)
@5toolMVP
I think the Yanks are already over the lux line so anything they spend right now is attached to a 30% tax . Maybe it’s not taxed for the total value but the year to year average?
Everything above 208m is the first level tax. Above 228 second level and 248 3rd level where your draft spot goes down 10 places and you love international funds. It’s not on value if new contract it’s your total on any given year.
The luxury threshold is based on AAV, not payroll. There is a difference.
If a team signs a player to a 5 years 100 million dollar contract, where he gets 10 million the first year and 30 million the last year, 20 million will be applied to the threshold for every year of the contract. . There also some other fees that go into the luxury threshold but I’m not quite sure what they are.
Bottom line, it’s not based on payroll.
Yeah, they pay a smaller percentage of revenue on the payroll than most teams in baseball money should be no issue.
Lest we forget, 2018 was all about the Yankees staying under the tax to reset their rate so they could spend big with the great 18/19 free agent class….or to save the Steinbrenner family some cash. One or the other
@AlvaroEspinoza That’s what the media said but I don’t think the Yanks made declarations of ready to spend “stupid money” or go for multiple FA like we see in the NBA/Knicks every few summers.
I thought it was odd that the Yanks didn’t show any interest in any FA other than Corbin, and obviously they had a “line in the sand”: on where they were willing to go with him. But I guess they wanted to give Frazier a shot to claim LF and had Andujar, Didi and Torres to cover SS/3B. I guess there’s something to say about giving the young guys a shot over a FA. It’s kind of what most other teams do and kind of what fans were clamoring for years ago.
Theres something to say about starting tulo at short.
You’re obviously not a shareholder.
@pasha2k
How is it tampering? Cashman nor any Yankee official was quoted saying anything at all. But I think it’s obvious and I don’t think it effects any other bidders. It’s kind of like saying “water’s wet”. Not really breaking news. Just look around mlb for teams that need pitching and can afford him. Slow news day.
Popeye?
Roid man
To angel……Gardner=Popeye
They didnt make it known. “Major league sources” did. And everyone knows theyre interested. Theyre interested in everybody for the right price.
In other breaking news, Julius Caesar is still dead.
Last year a lot of people thought the Yankees were interested in Machado but in reality they made no effort.
When you hear a team such as the Yankees are in, it makes a difference. Just because it isn’t a surprise doesn’t mean I’m not interested in knowing.
Yea but top 5 pitchers in baseball tend to peak the Yankees interest. And they have been after him for nearly a decade.
Angels, for sure.
Padres / White Sox / Twins / Phillies / Angels / Dodgers / Giants
All seem like teams that will want to upgrade.
Twins will not pay that large of contract.
Angels.
Every year we hear the Dodgers are signing the biggest Free Agent and they never do.
Right, it’ll be the Madden-led Angels.
The last thing the Dodgers need is Cole.
They can also save another $18 million if Chapman opts out, which I hope he does. That kind of $ for someone who only pitches 65 innings per year is ridiculous. Plus, Ellsbury and Tanaka ( approximately $45 million ) come off the books after 2020.
Ellsbury doesn’t count against the tax I don’t think.
Why wouldn’t he?
A quick google revealed.
Oct 01, 2018 · Jacoby Ellsbury’s salary didn’t go away for luxury tax purposes just because he’s injured and didn’t play.
Injured players salaries have always counted in payroll. Insurance compensation only goes to a Hal’s bottom line.
Hmm. I could’ve sworn that guys like Cespedes, Wright, Ellsbury etc. Didn’t go towards the cap. Thanks for the correction.
Add Happ which is another 17. I think Cashman will try to eat some money and trade him.
Not sure how much more he has to express that he doesn’t want to play there. Dare to dream though!
@imindless
I’m asking you an honest question. Please answer. Where oh where has he said ANYTHING publicly…a quote from him, that said he has ruled out the Yanks or any other non-west coast team? It seems counter-productive to publicly rule out 4 or 5 big spending teams. Not something Boras would condone imo.
He can’t it is logical gymnastics by people in California trying to convince themselves that Cole going to the Angels is a sure thing.
Prob from articles like this:
“”We know he wants to be a West Coast guy,” Astros outfielder Josh Reddick told Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller. “
@vtncsc
I read it but that’s not Cole saying it. In actuality, I have to think that was said in jest. If not, that’s an incredible thing for one teammate to say about another teammate headed into FA while the focus should be on winning a world series. Further, have we EVER heard one player PUBLICLY (as opposed to being an “unnamed source) state ANY business of another player???? That seems unprofessional and certainly if taken as being a real statement can cause a club-house distraction. I saw an interview after one his starts where reporters asked something about destinations as a FA and he quickly shut that down and turned back to the quest to win a chip.
Reminiscent of Giants fans last year swearing they were getting Harper because he was quoted as saying “he loved San Francisco”.
No doubt that Boras has told Cole not to say anything about where he would want to pitch next year.
They will use the Yankees to drive the price up.
He will want to play on the west coast and sign with one of the four teams in California unless the Yankees go bonkers and bid against rhemselves..
I wonder if Cashman wishes that he would have met what the Pirates wanted two years ago?The Yankees may very well have won both crowns.
I also remember yankee fans thinking ohtani was theres well guess what? First one out of the sweepstakes. You can undervalue what he has shown to be the accurate didnt want to play for yankees the first time they drafted him. Also wouldnt give yankees assurance that he would sign extension and so he got delt to astros. The money will be there from many teams and i don’t think there will be a sizable gap between each one so he can simply choose a destination he likes. He has already said it would be great to have his mom there at all his home games.
Angels are the most likely landing spot he is a Newport Beach kid with that said if NY offers 275/8 and just blows other teams away he will be a Yankee. If it’s close I’m guessing he goes the So Cal Route.
Halos, spot on!
To Old. The Angels will have a decent team if they can get that guy to stop giving Narcs to the players. But seriously, they could have a few good pitchers.
Players care about getting paid, not playing where they grew up.
Just saying If it’s close he will choose the Angels. If an East Coast team blows him away then he will go play there.
If it’s close he chooses the Yankees, because he grew up by a fan.
I have never seen or heard him being a fan of the yankees. Literally searched it on google nothing came up not even tmz sports reported it. I also remember ohtani was suppose to go to the yankees howd that work out?
You must not have searched very well then. All during the postseason, they showed a picture of Cole at a Yankees home game as a kid saying he is a Yankee fan for life.
People said this about Corbin. Why is 35% of the comment section always people acting like they know the player.
Padres458, Good God quite apropos. Don’t forget the 35% who act like they know someone in an MLB organization.
Thetruth you must not of read the article very close because it says he was also an Angel fan. New York or California for a kid that grew up in Newport Beach? Hmmm I’m guessing unless the Yankees blow the west coast offers out of the water it will be a west coast team.
Not at all. Lol it’s almost certainly the Yankees or the Phillies. More money and better teams.
Except the Phillies stink.
You come across and either a yankee homer or a troll. Yankees with him still aren’t beating the astros minus him. I swear yankees fans are some of the most volatile people on earth on par with most laker fans.
Unless Houston can adequately fill Cole’s void, Yankees can and probably would beat the pants off Houston rolling a rotation of Verlander, Greinke, Peacock and Whitley, if that.
Uber, uber, uber… lol
The Yankees make like over $600 million in revenue this excuse that they can’t afford to pay the luxury tax is bs. George Steinbrenner would spend the money when there is an opportunity to win hopefully Hal follows that.
George was a psychopathic maniac with bipolar disorder. No one should care what he would have done.
^^^
This Yanks didn’t exactly prosper under George after 1981. How many over the hill FA did he sign? How many prospects were traded for the likes of guys like Ken Phelps? It was not a good time from 82-94. .
Cole will end up being a halo.
I think you are overlooking Moreno vs Boras. Their negotiation styles don’t mix.
Boras will do what Cole wants. If he wants to be an Angel he will be. Boras was Jered Weavers agent and Moreno worked with him because it’s what Weaver wanted.
Top free agents pitching:
Cole/Angels
Bumgarner/phillies
Hamels/padres
Strasburg (depending on ws outcome) padres
Wheeler/yankees
Wheeler will get annihilated in the ALE
Chris Archer went from the ALE to NLC and based on your thinking Archer should have improved.
White Sox Madison and Wheeler then J.D. for DH Right field Nick Castellanos
The White Sox have cash to spend this off-season!
I think the Phillies get 2 of them. I hope Hamels and one of the others. But they need more than just 1.
Lol Cole us going to a team with the best chance to win and that gives him the most money. That won’t be the Angels.
65 million is space this upcoming year, they have enough. Yankees gotta pay judge and torres soon. Angels really on need 1/2 pitchers and they can compete.
Do some research about the Yankees first before posting this junk. “Yankees gotta pay Judge and Torres soon” First of all not anything major in 2020, and secondary the Yankees have huge money coming off the books after 2020.
Why would the Phillies sign a back end starter?
Ahhhh that time of the year again where the Yankees are “expected” to pursue every top free agent, and then proceed to get none of them. Haha Slow news days I guess.
@trevorreed
I guess going a couple of years without getting the biggest FA must feel like a lifetime for some. Corbin was the only FA the Yanks pursued last year and if I remember. they walked away from the table. It’s not like they LOST a FA to anyone recently. Other than Corbin, Lee and Halladay are the only ones that come to mind. Maybe Johan Santana.
Yanks made a better offer for Santana to the twins than the Mets made, but twins refused to trade him there out of spite.
Shohei ohtani comes to mind, mike trout.
Mike Trout, wtf are you talking about?
easy to clear space. trade Happ. somebody will take salary. we may eat a lot, but it will clear space
They can pursue. He will not engage.
Yeah because Boras clients are known to be sentimental and not care about money.
I think Cole ends in California
I’m shocked the Patriots haven’t traded for him yet
Yankees or Astros if they want to open up the vault,
Thanks Captain obvious
As they should.. Angels and Padres are likely to pursue Cole. I also wouldn’t rule out LAD.
Would you sign with the Angles if you were Gerritt Cole??? Pujols did. C. J. Wilson did. Simmons did. Hamilton did. They all sat cozy in their own home watching the play-offs on their televisions and eating their home cooked popcorn!!!!
Simmons did not sign with the Angels. Vlad did.. MVP. Colon did Cy Young.
Pujols is thrilled the signed with the Angels. So is CJ Wilson. Hamilton.. not so much. So if Cole is going to take drugs, then please don’t sign with the Angels.
Yup Trout hates there so much he signed another extension. Horrible place to play lol.
And he ismt going to the playoffs in the next 5 years.
@uncle mike
Yeah but the TV was more like an outdoor television with a retractable 201-inch screen and the chef they flew in to cook his popcorn was topping it off with foie gras and gold-leaf, covered in caviar, lobster shavings, truffles, Gruyere cheese melted with champagne steam and BBQ sauce made with Kopi Luwak coffee.
I mean if Pujols is anywhere close to being a modest multi-millionaire, he probably hasn’t even put a dent in all the money he made while back with the Cardinals.
So yeah, signing a $200 mil dollar deal isn’t exactly a bad thing, regardless of who he signs with. But I guarantee you he will demand a no-trade clause if he signs with a team whose determination to win might be iffy. But it would be a crying shame if the Angles do nothing after signing Trout to that record breaking extension.
I think Trout is the reason why the Angels will be going after pitching and a catcher this year. I’m guessing it came up in extension negotiations and Arte must have sold Trout that’s why I expect them to be real active this offseason.
I think he resigns with Astros.
He’s a Cali boy. Not happening.
Yet he grew up a Yankees fan hmmmm
The Yankees need Cole for sure!!!
He will look great next to Machado and Harper in New York.
really? no sh$! who didn’t expect them to
My money is on the Phillies if an east coast team is able to money whip him. Cashman has already been there and done that. He’s too smart.
If Cashman can’t land a big time SP either via trade or free agency, he should be fired. Don’t get me wrong, he has done a good job for a long time but a good job for a long time is not enough for the Yankee dynasty. His failure to get an impact SP over the past few years (besides Paxton) is very surprising, especially considering that the Astros have acquired the biggest pitching prize at the deadline for 2 of the last 3 years. Not to mention getting Gerrit Cole in the off-season.
@throwinched10
You can certainly critique Cash for not getting Cole if all that stood in the way was Frazier. Genereally, I’ll take the great pitcher over a prospect position player. Although the Cole we see is NOT the same Cole back when he was with the Pirates. But as for Greinke, it was never going to happen. It’s been discussed every single time he was either a FA or on the trade market. For that reason no can really blame Cashman for not moving on Greinke. Most of the other SP mentioned the last year really give you ZERO reason to fault Cash.. I mean if you want to by effort then shoot, Grey, Happ, etc were all moves to get a FOR 1 or 2 type. But Fulmer, Ray, Bauer, Kluber and Carrasco haven’t give Yanks fan any reason for regret. I guess you can say Stroman but I don’t think he’s any better than Tanaka in performance and his character, which I don’t mind, may not have gone over well. under the brighter lights of the Bronx where they have huge expectations. We’ll see.
I certainly understand what you are saying. I am also not a Yankees fan and therefore am trying to look at this through the bigger lens that is the MLB landscape. NYY, LAD, BOS, and now arguably HOU are the four organizations where “pretty good” is not good enough for the GM role.
Add Philadelphia and the Cubs to that list. Let’s call it, Too Big to Fail.
exactly- the Yankees are not the royals or tigers. making it to the playoffs in a world where you have a huge advantage is not a big deal.
That Cash has been to one ws in 15 years is pathetic
Wow so cool
My money is on him landing with the Marlins
I was just going to post that with all the ridiculous other suggestions. Why not?
One piece of information this article fails to take into account the Yankees will have $45 million coming off their books for the 2020 season so they could spend the money that Cole and his agent want and still not be higher salary than they were last season. They could also add another bullpen piece as well as a contact minded hitter to the roster and just be over the luxury tax threshold by about 10 million which would only be a $3 million luxury tax bill.
Cashman” Hey Gerrit. We drafted you so I think we deserve a discount.” Boras n Cole “Send us your final offer” Cashman”Highest I can go is gonna be 5yrs $125m. “We really should get that discount.”
Meanwhile the Yankees have that huge contract with Stanton then have to worry about paying their young guys in the future!
@BeeVeeTee
Money comes on…….money comes off. Money will be offset.
The kids will get their raises but Tanaka, Ellsbury, Britton, Happ, Chapman, Gardner, Ottavino, Britton and DJ come off the books in the next 2 years. That’s like $130m in annual salary that can offset the kids raises. I’m sure Cash will try and extend some of the kids to get a bit of a discount on FA years like they did with Severino. If Severino returns to 2017-18 form he would be severely underpaid for the next 3 years.
If you can’t beat em, buy em
@dwilson10
That’s the Yanks to almost a fault. The best way to guarantee the Yanks will chase you as a FA is to beat them consistently, especially in big games. Randy Johnson, Clif Lee, Roy Halladay and Roger Clemens are a good example. .
Breaking News:The Yankees want to Acquire Babe Ruth from The Cemetery at Hawthorne!
Yankees win Cole at the end.
Angels don’t push the envelope for a 8th year. Yankees are dumb enough to do it.
We settle for Wheeler, Ryu and Grandal. Have trade chips for the deadline, if we need to add another arm for a final push.
My hopeful projection.
You have no trade chips.
Boras is going to drag this to the end.. Yankees néed to BLOW away every teams offer with money 9/ $320 mil.. with NO TRADE Clause
Well that would do it. Would really suck for the Yankees if he blew his arm out though.
You beat me to it. That was my thought too
…until Hal finds out how much he wants and then tells Cashman to spin that Garcia is the ace that they need.
So many teams going to pursue Cole but because it is NY we have to have an article on it.
The MLBTR team was sitting on the couch with their Yankee banners and in their Yankee onesies, watching the Yanks lose to Houston…. what else is there to do now that the Yanks have been eliminated? They have to make plans for the Yankees next year. Baseball season is over for them.
maybe he signs with Yankees, then they get Bauer from Cincy, then both of them can continue their cute little “feud”….
In all reality only a couple of teams will make a,serious run at Cole because of the money demands that will be made. Over half of the teams will not be able to afford to pay him what he wants. Half of the teams left will not want to spend that much based on their existing payroll numbers. That will leave a handful to duke it out. I can hear Boras whining now about all of the other teams not wanting to meet the price and killing the bidding war.
I seriously doubt he would shave for $250 million
A “major league source” could be the guy cleaning the toilets at Yankee stadium, right?
Astoros are in the series, in the playoffs, mlb frowns upon transactions during fuss Time!
The Yankees haven’t even had their organizational planning meeting yet. This story is nonsense.
Of course the Yanks will kick the tires on Cole….PR and baseball wise they have too. As many have pointed out this article is common sense and premature. But why pass up a chance to mock Cashman???
Cash is just way too smart. Depth overrides talent when the goal is to win the summer. He has proven how adept he is at acquiring aces and top flight SP. I mean spending 36 mil last year on Happless CC and Gardy really mattered in October, right? my g-d who could have foreseen that?
Let’s be honest though- for the last 15 years the Yankees off season blue print has been exactly the same. Get 2 SP (an ace and a #2/3 type), and get 2 or 3 contact hitters. He did do it once in 09′ and shockingly they had a parade. other than that he has failed.
Cashman will go all out for Cole, he should get 7/235. If Cole stays on the west coast the Dodgers or Angels I would expect Strasburg or Wheeler would be next in line. The money will not be an isssue, since they have over 110 million coming off the books by 2021.
Who give a rats you know what! I don’t believe for a second the Yankees get Cole.
They keep bringing back Brett Gardner who cannot hit water if he fell outta a boat in the post season but they keep bringing him back.
Louie, I’ve been waiting for your input since Sunday. I was all over the debacle of putting CC on the ALCS roster, and of course we see how that turned out. I’ve also posted they’ll probably bring Gardner back, and of course the Cashman fanboys said “why not”. Look at where the Yankees payroll stands now, and tell me how they’re gonna spend to get Cole. Just win enough to keep the dollars rolling in to line Hals pocket is the new Yankee way.
We hope the KBO gets Yarreet Kowe.
I want to see the Seattle Mariners get Gerrit Cole by outbidding the Yankees. Seattle needs an ace and they have a solid list of top tier prospects ready to make the Mariners a contender for years to come
Here we go, another offseason of these stupid articles touting pipe dream scenarios. The Yankees will give a halfhearted attempt that wont be near reality , lose out and then say they tried, just like the past couple offseasons. The oficial reasoning will be too close to the luxury tax, and all the great “inhouse” candidates they supposedly have to make yet another mediocre rotation. Hal S. needs his DNA checked….
More like his profits
Pip Dream Scenarios! I love it a real Yankees fan who knows the truth.
Bring back Brett Gardner and call it a day cuz that’s all their really gonna do.
First of all Michael K has already reported the Yankees have 45 million coming off their books this season. Also most of those guys are not going to be retained the only one that is a given is Brett Gardner. Regardless whether they get coal or not they are going to need another starting pitcher all reports indicate Huber and Strausburg are going to opt out so they could get one of them as well. As far as Cole is concerned it’s going to come down between the Yankees and Dodgers because those are the only two organizations that will come close to what Boris wants.
It’s Cole, not coal and Kluber is not a free agent. They picked up his option for over 17 million so you could maybe trade for him. Hicks is going to miss most of next year so got to figure out CF
Actually you are missing the favorite to sign him which is the Angels so no it is not coming down to the Yankees and the Dodgers besides the Dodgers have given no indication they want to get in a bidding war for Cole. I’ll still stand by the Angels as Coles landing spot.
Dylan, check your years. The Yankees have $130mm spent for 2020 (you said 2019), and are $20mm over this year (you said 2018).