Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
SAN DIEGO – It doesn’t happen often, but the last two times a free agent pitcher turned down the Yankees he did so for less money to pitch in the National League: Cliff Lee with the Phillies in 2010 and Greg Maddux with the Braves in 1992. This time the New York Yankees made sure Gerrit Cole, their admitted “white whale” they have chased for 11 years, would not get away.
The Yankees won the wallet and the heart of Gerrit Cole. They forked over $324 million over nine years, enriching the righthanded free agent with $79 million more than the previous record money for a pitcher–a record which lasted all of one day, when the Nationals gave Stephen Strasburg $245 million over seven years.