MLB’s Winter Meetings look to be getting started a bit earlier this year. While rumors and speculation are usually flying wild this time of year, every once in a while you find something you can sink your teeth into.
Now, New York Times writer Bob Klapisch tweeted on Sunday that the Yankees have reportedly made a record-breaking offer to free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole.
I'm told #Yankees have a seven-year, $245 million offer on the table for Gerrit Cole. Would be a record-setting contract for a pitcher, surpassing Greinke’s $34.4 million AAV. Question is whether #Dodgers or #Angels will go to 8-9 or even 10 years.
— Bob Klapisch (@BobKlap) December 8, 2019
The Yankees are reportedly offering Cole $245 million over seven years with their first offer, which would break the record set by former Houston teammate Zack Greinke’s $34.4 million per year deal with Arizona in 2016.
Free agency just got real. The pressure is now on the other teams in contention for Cole, such as the Dodgers and Angels, to top an already monster deal. The Yankees have by far been pursuing Cole the most aggressively, at least according to the headlines.
The two parties have met at least twice over the past week, with the club sending several team executives as well as former pitcher Andy Pettitte to meet with Cole in Los Angeles.
Despite several reports stating that Cole preferred playing in the West Coast, the 29-year-old right-hander reportedly assured the club that he has no “West Coast bias.”
With New York being so aggressive, we can likely expect a deal to be reached very soon for Cole, whether it be in pinstripes or not.
