SAN DIEGO — The New York Yankees are back. Back to free-agent excess. Back to blowing away the rest of the market for free agents. Back to being at the head of baseball’s tycoon-class.
And — pay attention because this is now the most pressing part — back to skyscrapers-sized expectations.
Agreeing to a reported nine-year, $324 million contract with top free agent Gerrit Cole on Tuesday night signaled both a record free-agent deal for a pitcher (Stephen Strasburg’s record lasted a whole day) and a new reality for these Yankees.
After a couple years of uncharacteristic scrappiness, in which they won despite injuries and taped together a lineup with discarded free agents, the Yankees of old are back.