Yankees: A look ahead at 5 best free-agent starting pitchers in 2020

1. Gerrit Cole

What Brian Cashman would most like to see under his Christmas tree this holiday season is a signed, multi-year contract with right-hander Gerrit Cole. Both Strasburg and Cole are No. 1 starters — difference makers and are much more valuable than Odorizzi, Bumgarner, and Ryu.

However, I rank Cole slightly ahead of Strasburg because of age, long-term potential, and other considerations.

Ironically, Cole was initially selected in the first round (28th pick) of the MLB June Amateur Draft out of high school by the Yankees in 2008. However, he decided to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on an athletic scholarship and play college baseball instead. This was a difficult decision for him since both he and his father are lifelong Yankees fans.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made Cole their first overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2013. The Pirates traded Cole to the Houston Astros during the 2017-18 offseason. He just turned 29 (on September 8), and is two years younger than Strasburg.

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Cole is a durable and dominant power pitcher who throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball consistently between 94 and 98 mph. (His fastball was clocked as high as 102 mph while at UCLA.) In addition, Cole throws a slider and a changeup, and a sinker on occasion. Over time, he has learned to control his emotions on the mound in tight spots.

He has a lifetime 90-52 (.634) record and a career ERA of 3.27. Like Strasburg, Cole has struck out more hitters than innings pitched, 1,291 batters in 1,167 innings, during the course of his career.

However, this year, his best season ever, he has thus far struck out an astonishing 281 hitters in only 184.1 innings. Cole has an excellent chance of winning the AL Cy Young Award this year. His WAR is an extraordinary 5.4, and 21.9 lifetime. Furthermore, he has pitched in five postseason games for the Pirates and the Astros and has a 2-3 record.

Clearly, Cole will cost a lot of money to sign, and, of course, will demand a long-term contract. However, like Strasburg, this is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the three best starting pitchers in baseball.

Given his proven durability and the fact that he is still getting better, the Bombers must make signing Cole their number one priority. It is time for the Yankees to take out their checkbook and do the right thing. They certainly can afford him.

It would be a dream come true if the Bombers were able to sign both Cole and Strasburg. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen given the overall cost of landing both starting pitchers.

However, signing either Cole or Strasburg and either Odorizzi, Bumgarner, or Ryu would give the Yanks a huge lift, have an immediate impact on their chances of going all the way through the playoffs and World Series in 2020 — and would solidify their dominance for years to come.