The Yankees call Ace's bluff in a strange opt-out saga

SAN ANTONIO – Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees each considered the possibility of divorce, with Cole leaving in free agency and the Yankees searching for a replacement, but in the end they concluded they couldn't live without each other.

The New Yankees didn't want to lose their ace and Cole never wanted to leave, so after 48 hours of talks Monday they agreed to pretend the silly little exit never happened.

The Yankees may have called Cole's bluff when he exercised his opt-out at all on Saturday and could have easily left as a free agent. But then again, Cole may have called the Yankees' bluff, knowing they didn't want to lose their Cy Young winner

They finally agreed that selfishness didn't need to get in the way, nearly five years after the Yankees and Cole agreed to a nine-year, $324 million free agent contract in December 2019.

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That leaves Cole with four years and the $144 million he has left, and the Yankees don't have to convert him to a five-year, $180 million commitment to make him happy.

“It wasn't something we were necessarily comfortable with at the moment,” Cashman said, “but we wanted our players and our ace back and he definitely didn't want to leave. We had a lot of healthy conversations about just giving it a try.” We could go on and on about the future because when we signed Gerrit, our intention was for him to lead our staff until the end of his career.

There are currently no discussions about a possible extension, even after being granted a 24-hour extension to continue talks, Cashman said, but says that could change at any time in the future.

In fact, this mini-saga almost turned out to be a kind of hate game, with both sides ultimately blinking.

Cole, who participated in the conference calls with agent Scott Boras, was not ready to leave.

The Yankees, with owner Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine and Cashman, were not prepared to make a difficult decision.

Cole had the opportunity to become a free agent after the Yankees informed him they did not want to give him a one-year, $36 million extension in 2029 – but decided against it.

“Maybe the grass isn’t always greener,” Cashman said. “I think he’s happy where he is. I think he likes our lineup. I think he likes who he plays and works for, and I think he likes his teammates. And I think he believes we have a legitimate chance to win.”

The Yankees could have simply walked away after Cole exercised his opt-out.

“We didn’t want that,” Cashman said. “On behalf of the Yankees, we definitely wanted him to be with us as we move forward, and he is. And during the conversation it was clear: he still wanted that. So the simple solution was to undo the options.

The decision prevents the Yankees from having to scour the free-agent market to replace Cole, even with Cy Young winners Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell. And they wouldn't enter the 2025 season with a starting rotation of Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman.

“Listen, he’s one of the best starters in baseball,” Cashman said. “That was him. He knows us. We know him. We can rest assured that New York isn't too big for him. His work ethic.” His preparation is second to none. So we're really happy that he's still in the game for us.

“We can try to build around him and (Aaron) Judge. My main focus at the moment is to find as much talent as possible to improve our chances in 2025, but this was certainly a very important chess piece to keep.”

They are together again and after the interactions during the 48 hours, they also appreciate each other more.

“That was a healthy dynamic for us,” Cashman said, “for us to land again and stay together.”

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The Yankees call Ace's bluff in a strange opt-out saga

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