Andy Martino of SNY reports that the New York Yankees will pursue Houston Astros ace Gerrit Cole in free agency. More on that in a second.
The New York Yankees were one of the best teams in baseball all season long, but they repeatedly faced questions about the quality and depth of their starting rotation.
Although New York's starters were serviceable in the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins, they came up short against the Houston Astros as the Yankees lost in the ALCS.
Masahiro Tanaka dominated Game 1 and James Paxton was electric in Game 5, but Luis Severino struggled in Game 3 while Tanaka took his lumps in Game 4. Given that the Yankees entered the postseason with just three starters that are not as capable of going deep into games, there was a heavy reliance on the bullpen.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was criticized in the aftermath of the loss for his failure to add starting pitching in the offseason and the trade deadline, but that likely will not be the case this winter.
Per the Martino report:
Our early feel, based on conversations with major league sources, is that the Yanks are expected to engage on Gerrit Cole, for the simple reason that he's currently the best pitcher in baseball and would look great at the top of their rotation.
Cole would immediately become the ace of New York's staff. The right-hander is a leading candidate to win the American League Cy Young Award after going 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA while also leading the MLB in strikeouts (326) and ERA+ (185).
As Martino notes, some reporters have suggested–and teammates such as Josh Reddick have guessed–that Cole is likely to end up on the West Coast. However, Martino also says that Cole will not limit his market, and that the Yankees are likely to offer him an extremely lucrative contract.
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