Gerrit Cole has signed one of the biggest contracts in Major League Baseball history. He signed a nine year deal worth $324 million, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports. With a deal this big, there are likely multiple factors that the 29-year-old took into consideration. Here are three things Gerrit Cole might have considered before signing with the Yankees.
Gerrit Cole pitching at Yankee Stadium. (Image courtesy of coloradoan.com)
Yankee Stadium has one of the smallest stadiums in the MLB. This is something many pitchers have likely thought about before becoming a New York Yankee. The short porch in right field along with the high amount of home runs hit last season could be something Cole took into consideration. However, he only allowed 29 homers in the 2019 regular season. With his 212 1/3 regular-season innings pitched, that is not a bad number considering the record-breaking amount of long balls that were hit in 2019.
In 2019, Bryce Harper played his first season with the Phillies. He signed a contract for 13 years that is worth well over $300 million. In 2019, he ended the season with a line of .260/.372/.510. Some people were claiming he was overpaid. His numbers from 2019 are numbers that multiple MLB players would be happy with. However, since he signed a contract so large, some had higher expectations for him. Cole may not be affected by this, but being on a team as popular as the Yankees can cause a lot of coverage. One bad outing and there’s a chance people are going to start asking if he was overpaid.
Gerrit Cole pitching for UCLA with little facial hair. (Image courtesy of espn.go.com)
This could be seen as comical, but many Yankees players have gotten their hair and beards cut while on the team. Players like Clint Frazier, Randy Johnson and Johnny Damon got hair cuts as Yankees. Gerrit Cole has pitched with a beard and a fair amount of hair on his head. If he does get a haircut before the season starts, it could take a little bit of getting used to for Cole. Depending on how short his hair gets, he may even need a slightly smaller cap size.
Feature Image Courtesy of Houston Chronicle.
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