Yankees, Gerrit Cole end contract opt-out drama in most confusing manner possible

The New York Yankees had until 5:00 PM EST to decide whether to add a 10th year to Gerrit Cole's contract ($36 million for his age-38 season), renegotiate his deal entirely, or just let him walk into the ether.

Technically, the latter option had pros; if you could get out of paying an aging pitcher through his regression years, wouldn't you? Unfortunately for the burgeoning community of cheapskates and ownership jockeys, the cons made more sense. If you're selling Juan Soto on a winning vision, giving away Cole is a pretty solid way to look like a loser. "We'll replace him in the aggregate with a couple of No. 2s and 3s" only furthers that perception. What if you sacrifice Cole's money to keep Soto, only to lose Soto anyway, who was somewhat bummed out by the departure of a locker room leader and ace? Yikes! Sorry, have to keep him.

And keep him they did, but ... we're all still confused by the outcome. When Jon Heyman tweeted on Monday afternoon that Cole and the Yankees were "making positive steps towards a return to pinstripes," that certainly sounded like they were about to get creative in lowering the right-hander's AAV and freeing up more cash.

Turns out ... nope. The Yankees and Cole agreed to change absolutely nothing!

Gerrit Cole contract: Yankees will keep same agreement with star pitcher

As the weekend dragged on without a decision, it's true that Cole's immediate return felt like less and less of a guarantee. There's certainly an argument to be made that spreading around wealth is a better idea than paying for a pitcher who started 2024 with elbow troubles, then saw his K rate diminished.

But ... you can make the regression argument for any free agent starter. Objectively, the Yankees would be worse in 2025 with any other ace replacing Cole -- and you know if the Yankees used his money on a different expensive ace (Corbin Burnes and his similarly regressing K rate), they wouldn't also import more rotation talent. It was a choice between "Cole and These Guys" vs. "Someone Else and These Guys" in a World Series-window year.

Sorry, but this was always going to be the outcome. It's just a shame the two sides weren't able to get more creative. At the very least, the Yankees stay in Scott Boras' good graces ahead of Soto Season even if that extra year wasn't tacked onto the original nine-year agreement.