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Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
**** Baseball fans woke up Wednesday to news that the New York Yankees
had reportedly signedGerrit Coleto a record-breakingnine-year, $ 370 million contract, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
It’s a landscape -altering move that has sweeping ramifications on the sport.
The signing shifts the balance of power in theAmerican League, and it leaves the clubs that missed out on Cole scrambling for alternatives.
It also impacts the rest of the free-agent market, as well as the Yankees’ roster makeup for the upcoming se ason.
With all of that in mind, here is a look at the biggest winners and losers of the Cole signing.
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- ********************* LHP James Paxton
- Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)
*** The New York Yankees entered the offseason. with four spots locked in for the starting rotation: (******************************** RHP Luis Severino
RHP Masahiro Tanaka
************** LHP JA Happ
According to
The – year-old put together a strong rookie season in 2019, posting a 3. (ERA) (ERA ) and 1. WHIP with strikes in .1 innings.
However, an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery limited him to (************************************************************************************************************************************. 1 innings the past two seasons. He returned for two appearances in September and was eyeing a spot in the 4253 rotation with a full offseason to rebuild his arm strength.
Now he’s more likely to head to Triple-A to start the season, where he can stay stretched out as a starter in the event that a spot opens up in the rotation .
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.**** Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images
With Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Zack Wheeler off the market, former
San Francisco Giantsace Madison Bumgarner is the best available starting pitching option.
Prior to the Cole signing, Heymanreported Bumgarner was in creasingly likely to receive at least $ 118 million this offseason.
Now that seems like a lock.
The Minnesota Twins) have beenstrongly linkedto Bumgarner throughout the offseason, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthalreported after Cole’s signing that the Los Angeles Dodgers will “now shift their focus” to pursuing the longtime rival.
Other teams could also enter the fray, and with no clear-cut alternatives for an established front -line starter–aside from the oft-injured Hyun-Jin Ryu) –the price may climb even higher.
While Dallas Keuchel’s free-agency journey stretc hed into the regular season last year, being the last man standing at the top of the starting pitching market appears to be advantageous this time around.
**************************
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Hyun-Jin Ryu)Julio Cortez / Associated Press************
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angelswere widely regarded as the co -festival to sign Cole heading into the winter meetings, but there was a third serious contender.
According to Heyman, the Los Angeles Dodgers were the other team hot on the trail of the AL Cy Young runner-up.
It mak es sense that the major-market Dodgers would aim high as they look to rebuild their starting rotation with the potential departures of Ryu and Rich Hill in free agency.
As it stands, the Dodgers rotation shapes up as follows:
LHP Clayton Kershaw**************** RHP Walker Buehler****************** (RHP Kenta Maeda) ************************
- LHP Julio Urias
RHP Tony Gonsolin / Dustin May
While there’s plenty of potential in that group, there are also a lot of question marks. Maeda and Urias spent a good chunk of the 6991 season pitching in relief, while Gonsolin and May have pitched just (**********************************************************************************************************************. 2 combined MLB innings.
As noted, the Dodgers are reportedly pursuing Bumgarner, but missing out on Cole puts them in the loser column for the time being.
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- **************************************************************************************************) and strikeouts (********************************************************************************** (while setting the******************************** (single-season record) **************** (for strikeouts per nine innings) 13. 8) by a pitcher who qualified for the ERA title.
That said, Cole does not earn the spot of “biggest winner” following his decision to sign with the Yankees Despite his record-setting payday.
He was going to get paid a silly amount of money regardless of where he signed.
The two teams most directly impacted by his decision fill the spots of “biggest winner” and “biggest loser.”
(******************************** (5 of 6
Shohei OhtaniCarlos Osorio / Associated Press
It’s a tough time to be a Los Angeles Angels fan. .
This was the offseason they were finally going to bolster the roster enough to build a contender around superstar Mike Trout. This was the winter they were finally going to address the longstanding need for starting pitching help.
Now what?
While they focused their attention on Cole , top arms like Strasburg, Wheeler, Cole Hamels, Michael Pineda and Kyle Gibson signed elsewhere.
They have not yet been strongly linked to Bumgarner, so it’s unclear what their next move will be to address the starting staff.
Some quality arms are still searching for new contracts, including Ryu, Keuchel, Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey, Julio Teheran and Wade Miley.
There’s a steep drop-off from Cole to that group, though.
The front office has already swung a trade to acquire Dylan Bundy, and Shohei Ohtani will presumably be back on the mound early in the season.
Missing out on Cole is still an undeniable blow to the team’s plans.
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Brian Cashman*** Frank Franklin II / Associated Press
The New York Yankees finally got their guy.
As the No. (overall pick in the********************************************************************** draft, Cole spurned the Yankees to honor his commitment to UCLA. Then, nearly years later, the Yankees
andFanGraphs
, unless otherwise noted.
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Patrick Smith / Getty Images
There are million reasons to call Gerrit Cole a winner.
The hard-throwing right-hander is the proud owner of the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher, both in total money and average annual salary, surpassing the seven-year, $ 326 million deal Stephen Strasburg signed with the Washington Nationalson Monday.
If anyone was deserving of the mantle, it’s Cole.
The – year-old led the American League in ERA (2. **********************************************************************************************************************), FIP (********************
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