As expected, Cole opts out of his contract with the Yankees

Gerrit Cole has opted out, but the Yankees have the option to sign him back quickly.

In a completely expected move, though one that still turned the heads of many fans, Cole opted out of his contract with the Yankees on Saturday morning.

But Cole, whose nine-year, $324 million contract signed before the 2020 season contained an opt-out after this year that was anticipated well enough from the time he signed to be used, is not guaranteed to reach on the open market as a free agent.

Also included in the contract, negotiated by agent Scott Boras — who represents many of baseball’s biggest stars, a stable that includes current free agent Juan Soto — was an ability for the Yankees to essentially cancel the waiver wire.

That would be by adding a fifth year to Cole’s deal, which had four years and $144 million remaining, for $36 million, which would keep him a Yankee through 2028.

Although Cole began the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and didn’t make his first start of the year until June 19, the 34-year-old right-hander has been among the most durable pitchers of his generation.

The difficulty of finding a durable, high-end starting pitcher, as well as the success Cole has generally had in the Bronx, makes it likely that the Yankees will come in the extra year for $36 million.

The club has a deadline of 5pm on Monday to make this call.

Cole is 153-80 with a 3.18 ERA over 12 years in the big leagues, including 59-28 in five seasons with the Yankees. He is 11-6 with a 2.77 ERA in 22 career postseason starts, including 5-2, 2.93 with the Yankees.

Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts this season. He started what turned out to be the Yankees’ final game of the season, Wednesday night’s 7-6 loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series at the Stadium, and was brilliant though four hitless and scoreless innings.

But the fifth inning resulted in a flurry of mistakes — which included errors on Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe and Cole’s brain freeze on Mookie Betts’ two-out home run to first base where he didn’t cover the bag — that led to the Dodgers scoring five times to tie the game at 5-5.

“This is as bad as it gets. It’s the worst feeling you can have,” said Cole, who still doesn’t have a championship in his otherwise stellar career and who, as a member of the 2019 Astros, lost the World Series in seven games to the Nationals. “In the end, I came up short and it’s . . . it’s brutal.”

Should the Yankees take the unlikely step of allowing Cole to hit free agency again, he would join a crowded group of quality rookies on the market, a group that includes Max Fried, Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty , Blake Snell, Yusei Kikuchi, and Walker Buehler. .

Also on Saturday, there was another unsurprising move related to the Yankees winter, when the club declined its $17 million option on veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo, instead exercising the $6 million buyout of his deal and thus making the 35-year-old a free agent. agent.

Rizzo, a clubhouse leader on a similar level to Judge’s captain – albeit without the title of his close friend – is coming off two injury-plagued seasons, which is why the team’s decision on Saturday was fully expected.

Rizzo, speaking after Wednesday night’s loss, seemed to feel that too.

“I feel like I have a lot to bring to this game in a lot of different ways,” said Rizzo, a standout member of the 2016 Cubs that ended the franchise’s record 108-year drought without a World Series title.

Gently tugging at his striped T-shirt, he later said, “I don’t want to take it off.”

Rizzo, who did not play in the Division Series against the Royals because of two broken fingers on his right hand after being hit by a pitch in the penultimate game of the regular season, played with broken fingers in the American League Championship Series against Cleveland and then in the World Series. Rizzo went 8-for-30 (.267) with a .421 on-base percentage in the two runs spanning 10 games (nine starts).