Gerrit Cole officially signed with the New York Yankees on Wednesday in a press conference at Yankee Stadium, giving him a nine-year, $324 million deal. But what sold him on the Bronx?
Well, according to NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty, the Yankees’ clubhouse manager Lou Cucuzza might’ve played a role in New York getting its man.
The Yankees gave Cole a bottle of wine during their free-agent meeting — a “Masseto merlot he drank with his wife on a trip to Florence, Italy,” per Kuty. But how’d New York know? Well, Cucuzza previously had discussed the trip with Cole, and he made sure to pass along the information within the organization.
The wine the Yankees gave Gerrit Cole at their meeting was the kind of Masseto merlot he drank with his wife on a trip to Florence, Italy. An '04 bottle. The Yankees knew about it bc Cole had once told their clubhouse manager, Lou Cucuzza, about the trip.
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) December 18, 2019
Could the bottle of wine have sealed the deal? Who knows, but Cucuzza likely gave the Yankees another leg up on suitors like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels.
As is the Yankee way, Cole recently had to say goodbye to his long locks and scruffy beard. To say he looks different would be an understatement.
