Why the Yankees should NOT sign Gerrit Cole
By Ben Fadden
New York Yankees fans want to sign the big fish in the free-agent market including Gerrit Cole, but there is a big reason why they shouldn’t.
Gerrit Cole is the best pitcher in the league right now, and it is undeniable. The only problem is he is going to command $300 million if teams, like the New York Yankees, want his services.
The Yankees do have the money, of course, they do, they are the New York Yankees. But one factor to consider is who is the guy writing the check. It is Hal Steinbrenner and not George.
Gerrit Cole would be on the New York Yankees if George Steinbrenner was still the guy running the show but he is not.
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Yankee fans have to deal with that and they need to accept that Hal is an owner that won’t just go spend money to show the fanbase that they are trying.
There are two options here. Option A is to go out and sign Gerrit Cole.
With that said, there needs to be an alternate route and here it is. Just read this a couple of times and it is clear that this option is much more efficient. Option B is to go out and sign three pitchers that would add up to the same money that they would give Gerrit Cole.
In other words, it would be 3 pitchers instead of one.
There are a lot of good starting pitchers out there that aren’t going to cost $300 million.
There are mid-tier pitchers that could actually be an ace on the Yankees staff that include Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. And it would be much smarter to stack your rotation with three all-star caliber starters that can pitch all five games of the Division Series–which would let Aaron Boone relax instead of forcing him to do a bullpen game in October instead of signing one that would only start two games in the World Series.
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New York Yankees fans are going to hate me, but it is just smarter if Brian Cashman spends money on three good starters than one great one.