Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg were two of the most coveted starting pitchers in recent memory, and free agency saw both sign what was a record-setting contract. Of course, Strasburg’s marks held for just over 24 hours.
The Winter Meetings began with the Washington Nationals re-signing him to a seven-year, $245 million contract. It represented the richest deal for a pitcher and topped the highest average annual value that had been held by Zack Greinke.
Strasburg’s lucrative contract set the bar for Cole to exceed, which he did by agreeing to a nine-year, $324 million deal with the New York Yankees.