Ever since Gerrit Cole rumors were in their infancy, the two teams that always were mentioned as highly possible destinations were the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels.
The star pitcher is a Southern California native, and when it became clear that he wasn’t signing with the Houston Astros long term, many thought one of those teams very well could be his next landing spot. As typically is the case with star free agents, though, the New York Yankees always have been lurking.
Cole and the Yankees met Tuesday in California, and the sit-down reportedly went well. MLB insider Jon Heyman on Wednesday noted that Cole made one pretty significant remark to the Yankees brass.
Gerrit Cole assured the Yankees he has “no West Coast bias” at yesterday’s meeting which lasted 4 plus hours. Yankees believe he’s built for NYC but have been worried he preferred LA. No word yet on today’s meeting with Stephen Strasburg.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2019
This is a big development, as the Yankees seem more than willing to pony up whatever cash is needed to land arguably the best pitcher on the market. Garrett finished last season with a 20-5 record and 2.50 ERA, finishing second in the American League Cy Young voting.
Starting pitching routinely was an issue for the Yankees last season, but if they land Cole, their rotation would follow with Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ. Not bad.
