The pending free agency of Juan Soto won’t be the only tough decision the New York Yankees have to make in the offseason. Right-hander Gerrit Cole can opt out of his remaining $144 million deal and become a free agent if the Yankees don’t add a 10th year for $36 million on top of his current contract.
With the possibility of spending $500 to $700 million on Soto, the Yankees could be looking to save in other areas.
However, from Cole’s perspective, opting out makes sense, as that’d give him another year with significant pay later in his career.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report predicted Cole would do just that, highlighting key points.
“A year ago, it would have been a no-brainer for Cole, the AL Cy Young Award winner, to opt out of his deal. And the Yankees would have had no hesitation in guaranteeing their ace a 10th year at $36 million and preventing him from returning to the open market,” Kelly wrote on October 17. “Gerrit Cole didn’t make his 2024 debut until mid-June as he was sidelined with right elbow inflammation. However, the rest and rehab approach, for once, actually proved successful…
“It will be an interesting game of cat and mouse this offseason between Cole—a Boras client—and the Yankees. He is now 34 and has logged more than 1,950 innings in his career. But the Yankees probably need him more than he needs them, and the bet is that if he forces their hands, they’ll ultimately guarantee him $36 million in 2028, his age-37 season.”
How Keeping Cole Could Hurt the Yankees’ Chances of Re-Signing Soto
There’s reason to believe the New York Yankees could try to cut money elsewhere to bring Soto back. In May of 2024, owner Hal Steinbrenner said the Yankees payroll is “not sustainable,” according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
While taking Cole off the books would help with that, it’d also be a questionable decision to re-sign Soto to a long-term deal and not keep their ace, as the idea would be to win multiple World Series during Soto’s time with the club.
Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball wrote that the Yankees could “reallocate” some of their resources to Soto, which could change the future of Cole in New York.
“On the surface, it still feels like a no-brainer to keep Cole, who has showed no signs of slowing down when on the mound,” Finkelstein wrote on August 28.
“But he will turn 34 years old on September 8th, and is likely to finish this season with a career-low in innings pitched (2020 excluded). The Yankees won a lot of games without Cole this season, and might decide to reallocate those resources to Soto if they are really worried about having enough room under the luxury tax in the future.”
Why Cole Is Worth the Money
Cole, a Cy Young Award winner, six-time All-Star, and two-time ERA Title winner, has been one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball throughout his 12-year career.
During his five seasons with the New York Yankees, he’s posted an impressive 3.12 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 134 ERA+, and has struck out 915 hitters in 759.0 innings pitched
The reality is, if the Yankees want to sign Soto to a long-term deal, there wouldn’t be much logic in putting every resource into him. Losing their ace and others to re-sign Soto would make the Yankees a worse team than they currently are unless they made other moves.
Still, getting an arm like Cole for a cheap price would be nearly impossible. If they want to win with Soto, keeping Cole around would be the right decision.
