Reigning AL Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole is crossing a major milestone as he prepares to return to the big leagues this week, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that the veteran ace will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Tuesday.
On the heels of a dominant 2023 campaign where he pitched to a 2.63 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 33 starts on a Yankees team that largely struggled, the veteran right-hander appeared poised to once again contend for the AL Cy Young award at the front of the club’s rotation this year. Unfortunately, those plans were scuttled by a bout of elbow inflammation Cole suffered early in Spring Training. That diagnosis led to some early concern that Cole could be faced with surgery, though a meeting with noted surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache confirmed that the veteran would be able to avoid surgery. He’s been rehabbing with an eye toward returning prior to the All Star break since then, and today’s news puts him one step closer to that goal.
It’s delightful news for the Yankees, who entered the season with plenty of question marks in their rotation thanks in no small part to Cole being sidelined. Fortunately for fans in the Bronx, those questions have generally been answered with strong performance: the club’s rotation ERA of 2.73 ranks second only to the Phillies among all major league clubs thanks to bounceback campaigns from lefties Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon, quality performances from youngsters Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, as well as the stable veteran presence of Marcus Stroman. The rotation has been so effective to this point in the season that it actually raised the question of which of the club’s standout performers would be moved to the bullpen to accommodate Cole upon his eventual return.
That question was ultimately answered organically when Schmidt found himself sidelined by a strained lat last week. Schmidt’s injury has put renewed focus on Cole’s rehab process, and assuming all goes well it appears the club should have their ace back into the fold at the major league level in relatively short order. Given the fact that Cole made just one two-inning appearance during Spring Training this year, he’ll need plenty of time to build up to full strength before he returns to the big league mound. Even so, the right-hander could make several rehab starts over the coming weeks and still return to the big league Yankees before the end of the month as long as he avoids any setbacks.
Looking ahead, Cole will join a Yankees team that has taken control of the AL East with a 41-19 record that puts them two games ahead of the Orioles for first place in the division. That jump back into contention after a difficult 2023 season has come thanks to excellent performances from not only the starting rotation but also the club’s superstar outfield duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Now, the Yankees have the return of a third superstar to their roster to look forward to in the coming weeks in the form of Cole.
Looking ahead to the offseason, the 33-year-old will have the opportunity to opt out of the remaining four years and $144MM on his contract with the Yankees this winter. In the event that Cole decides to exercise that opt-out, the Yankees will have the opportunity to void it by tacking an addition year and $36MM to the end of his deal with the club, effectively bumping the remaining money on the deal to $180MM over five years. Cole’s agent, Scott Boras, discussed the upcoming opt-out back in December and indicated at the time that he expects both Cole to opt out of his end of the deal and the Yankees to void that decision by tacking on the aforementioned extra year.
Of course, that was before the right-hander’s elbow issues cropped up during Spring Training, and it’s at least possible that a tough season for Cole upon his return could lead either side to change their stance on the matter. For his part, Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner recently indicated to reporters that he does not consider the club’s current payroll level to be “sustainable,” though it’s unclear if that opinion would impact the club’s decision-making in the event that Cole opts out this winter.
Cole will make the rotation go from great to best performing in the league
No guarantees especially if his elbow does not hold up. Lets see how he does before getting ahead of ourselves
They all ready are the best performing.
Do you have more respect for the Yankees or Dodgers?
The Phillies say hello….
Why wouldn’t there be respect for these teams?
Hal is thinking of costs. If the Yankees don’t void Cole’s opt-out and don’t re-sign Soto they will be a diminished team….but Hal will have a lot more money. You could be talking about over $100M including penalties.
I don’t see Cole opting-out after how his season started. They could agree to make his tenth year an easy vesting option based on health. Cole doesn’t appear to want to pitch elsewhere and he’s in Hal’s ear all the time.
You’re fooling yourself as he is another Boras client all about the money. I’ll laugh my ass off if Cole uses his opt out and Steinbrenner voids their end making him a free agent. It basically solves their biggest issue to essentially stay below at least 2nd tax tier AND sign Soto.
Given that he’s a Boras client and “all about the money”, his best play might be to stay put. Cole’s current contract calls for $36K per year for his ages 34-37 season, and he’s coming off an injury that cost him 40% of a season. There’s a good chance he couldn’t duplicate his current contract if he became a FA. Why take the risk for very small possible upside?
Can Yankee fans tell me what deal with Robert Johnson’s ghost at the crossroads or what sacrifices were made by the guy from Major League to get this no name pen to perform not just this year. But it seems the last few years. The Yankees spent less money on their pen than the Reds did. I Am Not 100 percent sure on that so I’m sure someone will correct me or acknowledge this. That included Nick MartÃnez who was signed to be a very spot starter and more of a needed long man. Either way it’s ridiculous that a team who can spend the money to buy a better bullpen does it cheaper with it seems anyone who they bring up or get off someone’s waiver wire can continue to do this.
Which. Ironically was something that the magical Luke Weaver is doing now. Giving up well less than a hit per inning with 7 walks and 39 BB. Are you kidding me?
Ian Hamilton was a retread. Clay Holmes was never this hood before. Wandy Peralta was great there.
Is it the coaching. Analytics department who helps them. Selling your soul for rock and roll.
Clay Holmes is “hood”?
Last name is Holmes.
Is that it? I misspell a word and that’s what you get from the whole post to answer to? Is there a village missing an idiot. Clearly I meant good not Clay of the Hood.
Stop hitting the bottle earlier in the day, great value Peter Gammons 🙂
Two words: Matt Blake.
Brian Cashman asked Jobu to come. He made offerings of cigars and rum
I forgot about Jobu. Thanks
Analytics, pitching coach Matt Blake, and Cashman.
Thank You. They’ve been excellent.
There’s a great article on this in The Athletic. The Yankees have figured out how to make scouting, analytics and coaching work in synch at a high level, for pitching. And they’ve thrown a lot of money into making the process work.
So expect Cole after all star break
Yet another example of the Yankees paying huge money to sign a cheater. The list is a long one, Cole just the latest example. I wish nothing but bad things to this arrogant arsehole of a human.
Rest and rehab doesn’t usually work.
Let’s face facts. He won’t get 5 starts in before his elbow ligament snaps. He should have just gotten the TJ and gotten rehab underway.
Sure. The facts stated by a leading stated that he had no structural damage to his UCL so not sure how TJS would help anything.
Tanaka had a similar situation and not only managed to avoid TJS but he also had a solid tenure with the Yankees despite occasional IL stints. His numbers in the postseason were also very good.