The New York Yankees need Gerrit Cole for the 2020 season
The Yankees have been linked to Gerrit Cole for a while now, and the rumors have started to heat up. If the Yankees want to be competitive in 2020, they need to sign the superstar pitcher.
The New York Yankees came up short once again in 2019, and just like 2017, it was at the hands of the Houston Astros. However, in 2019, the Astros had someone they didn’t get in 2017, Gerrit Cole, and now there is a chance that Cole winds up with the team he cheered on growing up.
Gerrit Cole grew up in Newport Beach, California, but he is a Yankees fan, and there is a picture of Cole from the broadcast during the 2001 World Series holding up a sign that says, “Yankee fan today tomorrow forever.”
Now, in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t mean a whole lot, Cole was 11 years old when that picture was taken, but it might give the Yankees an advantage over other teams going after the pitcher.
But at the end of the day, baseball is a business, and Cole will pick the location that is best for him, but I am here to tell you that the location that’s best for him in the Bronx.
The Yankees were two games away from the World Series in 2019, and if they had Cole or another big name starting pitcher similar to him, there is a good chance they would’ve gotten past the Astros and into the World Series.
So if he has a chance to play on a team coming off a season like that and a team that is only going to get better with players such as Domingo German back, why wouldn’t he take that opportunity?
Not only that, but the Yankees need Gerrit Cole if they want to get over that hump and into the World Series for the first time since 2009.
The Yankees were at a considerable loss when it came to starting pitching last season, and they have been for quite some time now, and if they want to be a more well-rounded team, then they need to break the bank and sign Gerrit Cole.
Cole is the perfect candidate for the Yankees hole is starting pitching, and he would make the Yankees 10x better.
Last season with the Astros Cole held an ERA of 2.50 with a record of 20-5 in 212.1 innings pitched, adding this to the Yankees rotation previous season would’ve been huge.
Here is what the Yankees rotation could look like if they added Gerrit Cole in the coming weeks:
I don’t know about you, but this looks like a terrifying rotation to me. Now at this moment in time, no one is sure whether or not German will be back next season. Still, after he was placed on administrative leave for the remainder of the regular season and postseason, I am led to believe that his suspension (should he receive one) will be a bit less because of it.
So under the assumption that he will be back at some point during the regular season, this rotation is terrifying, and it is one that would balance out the unbalance between the starting lineup and the starting rotation.
Nonetheless, the Yankees need Cole if they want to win a World Series finally, and because of this and many other factors, you should expect to see the two make significant strides towards a deal before the new year.