Gerrit Cole recently made history, signing a record 9 year, $324 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Not only does this contract guarantee him the largest amount of money of any pitcher in MLB history, but the fourth most total money of all time. Cole was set to hit free agency coming off a stellar year with the Houston Astros, which saw him come second in the Cy Young Award voting for the American League. Many were expecting him to garner a lot of interest and take home lots of money, but nobody expected the bidding to reach $324 million. 

The Yankees, who signed Cole, were also in a bidding war with the LA Angels and the LA Dodgers, with all three teams having lots of money to spend, and a desperate need for pitching help. The Angels bowed out because they were not willing to give Cole more than $300 million, and the Dodgers simply didn’t want to one-up the Yankees in bidding again. In the end, the Yankees landed Cole on a record deal. 

Cole was born in California, and had the MLB’s two California clubs wanting his services, but he had stated once free agency started that location would not play a part in where he decided to take his talents, even if it meant going back home. In the end, he ended up taking the most money offered to him, which was by the Yankees. It has also become known that Cole, in fact, grew up an avid fan of the Yankees and had always dreamed about becoming a Yankee, and now his dreams have come true. This could have been another reason he chose to don the pinstripes. 

There are many fun facts that can be associated with Cole’s massive deal, including that he makes $155,000 per inning pitched, $52,000 per out, and $10,000 per pitch! Imagine if you could just go out onto Yankee Stadium and throw baseballs to get $10,000 per throw. That goes to show that Cole’s deal is massive. 

Now that Cole has made history, who could be the next pitcher in line for a massive deal? The answer we could know soon, or not for years. For now, however, Cole has set a new mark for pitchers.