The New York Yankees haven’t made quite as many Yankees-of-old signings in recent years, the kind where they just blow the rest of the sport out of the water with a gigantic payday to ensure they get the player they want.
Maybe the last such deal like that was with Gerrit Cole.
When Cole was a free agent before the 2020 season, the Yankees handed him a record-setting contract, and he’s been in the Bronx ever since.
The signing continues to loom large as crucial to the Yankees’ chances of success, because Cole is starting Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday at Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.
For the Yanks to go on a deep October run, Cole is going to have to pitch like the guy the Yankees signed to that ginormous contract more than half a decade ago.
Gerrit Cole Contract
That contract’s value? It was for $324 million over nine years.
It pays Cole $36 million per season, and it isn’t split up in any odd way. He actually just gets $36 million per year.
That means that this year, he made $36 million — and Cole had his worst ERA (still sub-4.00) in nearly a decade.
Cole isn’t young anymore, which is always part of the risk with such a contract, particularly for a pitcher.
The big right-hander turned 36 years old in September — which means that by the end of the 2027 season, he’ll be 37, and then the following year, 38.
How Many Years Left?
Cole’s contract, after this one, has two years remaining.
The nine-year deal began in 2020 and runs through the end of the 2028 season.
That means the Yankees still have two more seasons of paying Cole $36 million per year, so in total, they’ll owe him $72 million for next season and the following one.
The hope whenever a team hands out such a contract is that a player makes the value worth it in the front half so that even if they decline in the back half, they’ve already affirmed their worth overall.
Cole mostly did that, although he did miss the entire 2025 season with Tommy John surgery — to be fair, though, that’s also expected with long-term pitcher contracts these days. There’s going to be a missed season in there somewhere due to injury.
Otherwise, Cole has been mostly healthy and mostly dominant.
Still, big contracts do start to feel particularly hefty as players start to decline just a bit.
Yankees fans sure would love to see Cole hold off Father Time a bit this October and help anchor the New York rotation on a deep playoff run.
Even if he doesn’t, though, he still has been mostly worth the price. It just has the potential to feel more expensive in the next two years if Cole really is on the downslope of his career.
Yankees Still Owe Gerrit Cole $72 Million