Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees reportedly agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract Tuesday night making him one of the highest-paid players in baseball.
Cole finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting and led the majors with 324 strikeouts and led the American League with a 2.50 ERA. Cole helped the Astros get to the World Series but the team fell one game short of winning it all in 2019.
Cole’s reported deal with Yankees tops Stephen Strasburg’s deal with the Washington Nationals earlier this week. Strasburg signed a seven-year, $245 million deal with Washington which was the richest contract for a pitcher at that time. It only took a little over a day for that record to fall.
UNION EXEC MARVIN MILLER, SIMMONS ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME
With Cole’s deal finished, he joins some of baseball’s best in richest contracts in MLB history.
MANNY MACHADO
Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres agreed to a 10-year, $300 million contract last offseason. He agreed to a deal right before the start of spring training in 2019. He earned $10 million in 2019 and will earn $30 million annually from 2020 to 2028. According to Cot’s Contracts, he will also receive a hotel suite for road games and the right to buy premium tickets at Petco Park.
GERRIT COLE
Cole’s aforementioned deal with the Yankees is the richest for any pitcher in baseball. Strasburg’s deal was the richest before Cole’s. But before everything went down this week Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price had the richest deal for a pitcher at $217 million. Cole automatically becomes the Yankees’ ace.
STRASBURG, NATIONALS REACH RECORD $245M, 7-YEAR DEAL
GIANCARLO STANTON
Giancarlo Stanton signed a 13-year, $325 million with the Miami Marlins in 2015 and then was traded to the Yankees in December 2017. The slugger’s deal is mostly back-loaded as he only earned $15.5 million in the first two years of the deal. Stanton is set to earn $26 million in 2020, $29 million in 2021 and 2022, $32 million from 2023 to 2025, $29 million in 2026, and $25 million in 2027. He will also have a $25 million club option in 2028 which comes with a $10 million buyout. Stanton will certainly stay paid for the remainder of his career.
BRYCE HARPER
Early in his career, Bryce Harper was thought to have been the first $400 million player. But he fell short of that mark last offseason when he signed a 13-year, $330 million with the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned $10 million in 2019, will receive $26 million annually from 2020 to 2028 and $22 million annually to 2029 to 2031. It was the richest contract in MLB history at the time but another competitor beat him out about a month later.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
MIKE TROUT
There’s no doubt Mike Trout is one of the greatest baseball players of this generation. The Los Angeles Angels paid him as such in March 2019. The two sides agreed to a 12-year, $426.5 million contract which will keep the outfielder in an Angels uniform until 2030. He earned $16 million last season and will earn $36 million in 2020. He will earn $35.45 million annually from 2021 to 2030.