Gerrit Cole signs with the Yankees (9 years, $324 million)

[Justin]

17 minutes ago, floplag said:

"grew up a Yankee fan" is code for "they gave me the most money"...

I went to elementary school in SoCal in the 90s, as I imagine many on AW did. There were lots of kids who were fans of the Yankees and Chicago Bulls. I did not like those kids. 

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, calscuf said:

They knew he wouldn’t take it.  It was just for show.

They knew he wouldn’t take an offer $50 million more than the previous high for a pitcher, at the highest annual salary  For any player or pitcher in the history of the game?  Ok. 

[Duren, Duren]

Imagine a Sandy Koufax scenario applied to Cole.

1962. Age 26. Leads the league in ERA, has a 14 - 7 record. A lot of promise, but not enough to indicate where he would go from there after 7 years of average production. 

Age 27 in 1963. Explodes into greatness. League leading 1.88 ERA. 25 - 5 W/L. World Series championship. Cy Young and MVP. 

The first of four virtually similar seasons, including a 1965 W.S. Game seven win. Then, at age 30, forced to retire because of elbow injuries.

My point is that with pitchers you just never, ever know what may happen long term. Even in the middle of their best season. 

Had Koufax been signed to a Cole deal when he was 26 after his first great year he would have given ample value plus for four years, but the contract would be a big hindrance for the next five years. Still, probably a deal that most would take considering it brought two championships and three W.S. appearances. 

What if he signed when he was going into his thirtieth year though? One season of greatness, nine of financial pain.

Today, an elbow problem like Koufax had could be treated differently and his career would have continued. But he would likely miss a full season in rehab, need another season to see what his stuff could do. And likely revamp his pitching technique. Doubtful he would be as dominant in his prime, but still likely near ace quality if everything went right. But likely not worth his contract. 

The analogy with Cole is purely for arguement's sake, but some such possibility exists that the Yankees won't get the value they are paying for while he is now at peak Koufax level. Even if he is great and they don't win championships the objective they expect is not achieved. 

He is being paid to be the difference maker for World Series wins. And even personal awards and great stats won't compensate for team failure. So the pressure really is on all the other Yankees (players and management)  to justify this deal by proving that they can support Cole well enough to put him in position to do what is expected from him. 

A great pitcher on a disappointing team does not make the fan base happy. 

 

[T.G.]

 

[Justin]

27 minutes ago, calscuf said:

They knew he wouldn’t take it.  It was just for show.

Is that also what they did with Trout's 400M+ offer, or was that one sincere?

[Justin]

5 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Man some of you guys get bitchy if people disagree with you.

Re: Trout, they weren’t bidding against anyone else, obviously.

I believe they knew Cole wouldn’t choose them.

You also wrote: "Moreno didn't actually want Cole." Which means you think the Angels offered almost 300M to a guy they didn't want and whom they didn't think would choose them. 

That makes me laugh. If that's bitchy, so be it. 

[hangin n wangin]

20 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Man some of you guys get bitchy if people disagree with you.

Re: Trout, they weren’t bidding against anyone else, obviously.

I believe they knew Cole wouldn’t choose them.

Yep. Lol some cranky pants up in this bitch.

[AngelsLakersFan]

36 minutes ago, True Grich said:

 

Why is Eppler doing interviews? He should be hiding in shame right now, not going on the radio sounding like a goddamn tool. If Ohtani is paying attention he's probably pissed.

[failos]

2 hours ago, floplag said:

"grew up a Yankee fan" is code for "they gave me the most money"...

Nah it’s code for piece of shit

[Docwaukee]

going all in means you shove your entire stack into the pot and hope you have the cards to win.  Arte didn't have the best cards.  

[Angelsjunky]

So can we get Rivas and Uceta back for Max "Cole's Favorite Catcher" Stassi?

(Too soon?)

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, VariousCrap said:

 

The reality seems the Dodgers and Angels offers were dang close to each other.  The Angels can't help that the Yankees decided to offer an even more extreme amount.

The reality is, nobody should be shocked.

The "shock" was that we all thought we were frontrunners.

The reality is the yankees just did what they do by tradition... and we just forgot because its been awhile since they did it.

Theyre the richest team in baseball  (maybe dodgers). They wanted him, they were going to outbid us or anyone else who made the effort (like the dodgers).

Its not like we were outbid by mariners or some other normal team. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Why is Eppler doing interviews? He should be hiding in shame right now, not going on the radio sounding like a goddamn tool. If Ohtani is paying attention he's probably pissed.

Depends how his translator explains it to him.

Remember, he comes from a culture where people kill themselves to honor their boss, yess, but also one where adults collect hello kitty lunchboxes and participate in most extreme elimination challenge.

He may not know what to think of epplers gifs, or what a gif is.

[Angelsjunky]

This thread reminds me of my Facebook page after Trump beat Hillary. Or this:

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Depends how his translator explains it to him.

Remember, he comes from a culture where people kill themselves to honor their boss, yess, but also one where adults collect hello kitty lunchboxes and participate in most extreme elimination challenge.

He may not know what to think of epplers gifs, or what a gif is.

It's also a culture where the boss is expected to kill himself when he brings shame to his famiry.

[fan_since79]

3 hours ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

If Arte was all in he would have just given him an open line of credit for 9 years.

...and the yacht.

That's "all in".

[Erstad Grit]

My wife and I fell in love with a house. We told our agent all in and entered into a bidding war. We got our pre-approved number and the bank would not increase because it was going so high above the appraisal. Therefore we were all in and did not get the home. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Erstad Grit

[fan_since79]

23 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

The reality is, nobody should be shocked.

The "shock" was that we all thought we were frontrunners.

The reality is the yankees just did what they do by tradition... and we just forgot because its been awhile since they did it.

Theyre the richest team in baseball  (maybe dodgers). They wanted him, they were going to outbid us or anyone else who made the effort (like the dodgers).

Its not like we were outbid by mariners or some other normal team. 

The Yankees have won exactly one World Series in 19 years, so people are getting desperate over there. Cole puts them over the top and makes them an instant favorite. I hope they get in and the Nationals sweep them.

[cysomeawfulpitcher]

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

going all in means you shove your entire stack into the pot and hope you have the cards to win.  Arte didn't have the best cards.  

exactly.

it doesn't mean you give a player whatever he wants. 

[TroutField]

12 hours ago, ettin said:

He didnt whiff on Ohtani.

Craig 

[IheartLA]

On 12/11/2019 at 9:03 AM, Stradling said:

But even though we need Cole a helluva a lot more than we need Rendon, I'd say Rendon will live up to whatever contract he gets much more so than Cole living up to $324 million.  

Man I wish we signed Cole rather than Rendon, 2 more years and $1M per year more the difference in their contracts. Instead we got Anthony Rendon taking on the Pujols role for the next 5 years.

Thanks Arte!

[tdawg87]

2 hours ago, IheartLA said:

Man I wish we signed Cole rather than Rendon, 2 more years and $1M per year more the difference in their contracts. Instead we got Anthony Rendon taking on the Pujols role for the next 5 years.

Thanks Arte!

There was 0 chance we were signing Cole. Arte actually ponied up but the Yankees weren't being outbid. Plus it's pretty obvious he wanted to be a Yankee.

[Stradling]

4 hours ago, IheartLA said:

Man I wish we signed Cole rather than Rendon, 2 more years and $1M per year more the difference in their contracts. Instead we got Anthony Rendon taking on the Pujols role for the next 5 years.

Thanks Arte!

Yea cool story.  Rendon was great in 2020 and hurt last year. Call him Pujols, it makes you sound like a complete jackass. 

[Hubs]

7 hours ago, IheartLA said:

Man I wish we signed Cole rather than Rendon, 2 more years and $1M per year more the difference in their contracts. Instead we got Anthony Rendon taking on the Pujols role for the next 5 years.

Thanks Arte!

This is a ridiculous statement. Cole obviously would've helped, but characterizing Rendon as a flop after 1 abbreviated season in which he nearly led the league at his position for WAR, (2.2 bWAR, 7th overall in AL, Ramirez was 5th and 1st as a 3rd, with 2.4bWAR, but he also DH).. and then having one more season where he was hurt...

When he gets 6-7 WAR in 2022, we're not gonna complain, right?

Fangraphs has him tied for 2nd in 2020 at 3B with Manny Machado at 2.6, Jose Ramirez first with 3.5 so the difference is a bit more. Still, his 2020 was an overwhelming success, and his 2021 was an injury laden failure. I expect him to bounce back.