Former New York Yankees southpaw CC Sabathia claims he’s spoken “at length” with Gerrit Cole about pitching in the Bronx being from the West Coast.
In an upcoming episode of CC Sabathia‘s podcast R2C2, the former New York Yankees starter will leave Yankee fans salivating after revealing that he has spoken to free-agent ace Gerrit Cole about pitching in New York.
There are few individuals able to relate to Cole’s current situation. Having become an unrestricted free agent at the young age of 29 and coming off of his two best MLB seasons, Cole is looking at perhaps the largest payday for any starting pitcher in baseball history.
Similarly, in 2008, in one of the most memorable stretches for a starter, as a 28-year-old, Sabathia carried the Milwaukee Brewers into the postseason before becoming a free agent. As a west coast guy, it was rumored that Sabathia was unsure about playing in New York.
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However, the Yankees significantly outbid the Los Angeles Angels, giving CC a 7-year, $161M deal. In exchange, in 2009 Sabathia delivered the city of New York a World Series title in his first season in pinstripes.
In relaying this course of events to Cole, Sabathia could potentially help the Bronx Bombers land the most prized pitching free agent in years. That’s because, like Sabathia, Cole himself is a West Coast guy who is, reportedly, unsure about playing on Broadway.
If the Yanks can pull off a deal for Cole, he would essentially neutralize Chris Sale in Boston and, quite frankly, any top-level starter on any MLB team. It could catapult the New York Yankees to World Series favorites status.
Sabathia is forgetting one very important step, however, and that’s convincing Hal Steinbrenner and the front office to be willing to pay the Competitive Balance Tax, because, in order to land Cole, they will have to spend top dollar.
There’s no question that if the team wants to realistically compete for a 28th title in 2020, they will have to go hard after Gerrit Cole. Yankee fans better hope that they do.