Yanks ace Gerrit Cole gives up the right to opt out and prefers to stay with New York rather than become a free agent

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Gerrit Cole gave up his opt-out rights Monday and will remain with the New York Yankees on a contract that runs through 2028 rather than become a free agent.

The New York star initially exercised his right to terminate the nine-year, $324 million contract, which still has $144 million and four years remaining. That decision triggered a two-day window for the Yankees to add $36 million in salary for 2029, voiding the exemption.

Given the short time frame following the team's loss to close out the World Series on Wednesday night, both sides extended the negotiating deadline to Monday at 5 p.m. EST, the deadline for option decisions in the collective bargaining agreement. As the deadline approached, both sides agreed to revoke their rights and worked out the agreement with Major League Baseball and the players' association.

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

Cashman said the talks included himself, Cole, agent Scott Boras, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine.

“Gerrit and Hal developed a close relationship and remaining a Yankee was important to both of them,” Boras said in an email to The Associated Press. “All right, more time was needed to move the discussions forward.”

Cashman said that Coles will “hopefully finish his career with the Yankees.” Whether that's at the end of this contract or something in the future, we can still talk about it. But the most important thing is that the biggest first step is that we have our ace back and we are happy about that.”

Cole, a 34-year-old right-hander, won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award. His 2024 season didn't begin until June 19 because of that Nerve irritation and edema in the right elbow. The six-time All-Star went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts and then went 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.

Cashman said Cole does not need any medical procedures and New York hopes he is healthy.

“But how many pitchers are there, right?” Cashman said. “I go through the free agent meetings and I go through all the players on the market that are over a certain age and they're all going to have their warts and some will throw in, some can't play with them. But he obviously made us feel really good when he came back.”

Cole's decision gives the Yankees six potential rotation returnees, including Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman.

Additionally, the Yankees extended a $21.05 million qualifying offer to outfielder Juan Soto, who is certain to decline, but did not make a single offer to second baseman Gleyber Torres. New York would receive no draft pick compensation if Torres signs elsewhere.

Cashman said the club was not averse to incorporating deferred compensation into contracts. The Yankees' deals generally didn't include that.

“We are open to postponements,” he said. “Often players are less open to deferrals for us than perhaps other markets. But if we can do things that benefit us, of course we will.”

Cashman spoke to reporters for the first time since the Yankees blew a five-run, fifth-inning lead against the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series when center fielder Aaron Judge and Gold Glove shortstop Anthony Volpe made errors and Cole failed to cover first base on a crucial play.

“This team obviously wasn’t the best defensive team we’ve ever had. And that team had obviously made some baserunning mistakes as well, but obviously Game 5 involved players that are ultimately really, really good,” Cashman said. “Aaron Judge catches a fly ball a billion times out of a billion.

“The Dodgers won the World Series and I congratulate them,” he added. “I wish we had done our best, but there is only a small window of opportunity for that. We earned the right to get there, but we didn’t play our best baseball there and we were sent home.”

Also on Monday, the Yankees traded outfielder Taylor Trammell to Houston for cash. The 27-year-old was 1-for-1 in five games with New York this year and 0-for-6 in five games with the Dodgers. The Yankees claimed him off waivers in mid-April and he hit .256 with 18 home runs, 63 RBIs and 20 stolen bases for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. New York also assigned outfielder Duke Ellis directly to the RailRiders.

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