Sources – Yankees, Gerrit Cole agree to record 9-year, $ 324M deal – ESPN, Espn.com

Gerrit Cole and theNew York Yankeeshave agreed to a record nine-year, $ 324 million contract, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The deal includes an opt-out after five years and a full no-trade clause, sources told Passan. It surpasses the dealStephen Strasburgfinalized with the Washington Nationalson Monday for most total money and annual average salary for a pitcher, at $ 36 million.

Cole, the runner-up to teammateJustin Verlanderin the AL Cy Young Award, was dominant during the regular season and the postseason, as theHouston Astrosled the majors with 313 Total wins.

The – year-old , hard-throwing right-hander set an Astros record by winning his last (regular-season decisions and topped the AL with a career-best 2.) ******************************************************************************************** ERA. His career-high strikes were the most in the majors and broke an Astros franchise record that had stood since (******************************************************************************, when JR Richard fanned (*******************************************************************************************.

Cole had only one loss after May 29. That came in Game 1 of the World Series against the Nationals, but he redeemed himself with a stellar outing in Game 5. In the postseason, Cole went 4-1 with a 1. ERA in******************************************************************************************** (⅔ innings.)

Cole grew up a Yankees fan and attended several games at the old Yankee Stadium. He said before Game 3 of the ALCS that his favorite players were Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman visited Cole and his wife, Amy, in California last week, bringing along manager Aaron Boone, new pitching coach Matt Blake and special adviser Andy Pettitte.

Passan reported last week that signing Cole was the Yankees’ top offseason priority and that Cashman had ownership-level approval to offer a record-setting deal.

“I can’t guarantee we’re going to wind up with the player,” Cashman said earlier Tuesday at the winter meetings. “I can just guarantee a championship-caliber effort on our part.”

Cole also drew interest from the (Los Angeles Angels) ************** and. His agent, Scott Boras, said in a news briefing Tuesday that a pair of so-called mystery teams were pursuing the right-hander as well.

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“I think we all understand we have a special team that’s hopefully in the middle of a chance to do some great things, “Boone said from the winter meetings. “Any time you’re talking about a player the caliber of Gerrit Cole, and knowing what he can challenging mean to our club, it’s no surprise that we are as invested as we are in pursuing him.”

New York has not won the World Series since and sought an ace to head a rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka,James Paxtonand JA HappandDomingo German, who might be suspended at the season’s start under baseball’s domestic violence policy.

Cashman executed the move out of the same playbook he used after the season , when he gave CC Sabathia (a $) million, seven-year deal to lead a staff and establish a clubhouse presence. Cole will complement a young core of hitters that includesAaron Judge, Gleyber Torresand********************** Gary Sanchez, entering a window in which New York thinks it can compete consistently for championships.

Cole was drafted by the Yankees out of high school, with the th pick of the first round in (*******************************************************************************, but he chose to go to UCLA. Then he was drafted first overall by thePittsburgh Piratesthree years later. He finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in and earned the first of his three All-Star. selections that season, but he was less effective in his other four seasons in Pittsburgh.

After five seasons with the Pirates, Cole was traded to the Astros in January in exchange for pitchers Joe Musgroveand Michael Feliz

, third baseman (Colin Moran) ************** and outfielder****************************** Jason Martin. In his two seasons with Houston, armed with a revitalized four-seam fastball and improved mechanics in which he left fewer pitches out of the strike zone, Cole went ******************************************************************************************************** (with a 2.) ************************************************************************************************* ERA and ************************************************************************ strikes – good for (**************************************************************************************************************. 1 WAR.

FanGraphs’ pitch values ​​had Cole’s fastball as the most valuable in the majors last season, and his slider was in the top (****************************************************************************************************************.

Despite Cole’s natural talent, Hinch said during the postseason that the pitcher’s “largest strength is his mind.”

Cole finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting in (****************************************************************************. In his seven MLB seasons, he has a 94 – (record with a 3.) ************************************************************************************************************** (ERA and 1,strikeouts in 1, 313 innings. His ratio of 94 strikeouts per nine innings ranks sixth among active players and eighth all time.

ESPN’s Keith Law and Marly Rivera and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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