Newly-introduced Gerrit Cole reveals why he decided to sign with the New York Yankees, labeling them the “best organization in the league.”
Rocket science doesn’t exactly come to mind when pondering why Gerrit Cole signed with the New York Yankees. Sure, he’s a California kid whose upbringing led many to believe he may choose a west coast club. But come on… $324 million washes away any craving for any real reason.
Crazy salary aside, the arguable “best pitcher in baseball” a year ago did have a serious choice to make, and the money would have been there with any of his top suitors. So, why did he choose the Bombers?
At Wednesday’s introductory press conference, a clean-shaven Cole revealed the reason why the Yankees caught his eye above all competitors.
“It’s the best organization in the league,” Cole proclaimed.
Gerrit Cole on why he chose the Yankees: "It's the best organization in the league." #Yankees pic.twitter.com/VXmRqriZJM
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) December 18, 2019
He dug into the details further when asked about his life-changing decision.
“It was my dream,” Cole added. “I had a second opportunity to chase it and it’s the best organization, in my opinion, in the league.
“There’s a process here that Brian (Cashman) spoke to and that he just alluded to a couple (of) minutes ago about trying to bring the best people at each individual position to surround everybody with the best opportunity to succeed. I think they’ve demonstrated that through Brian’s last two decades, so it instills a lot of confidence as a player when you hear those things and it doesn’t hurt to play for your favorite team.”
Cole, 29, captured the AL Pitching Title last season while pitching to a league-leading 2.50 ERA. His mind-boggling 326 strikeouts in 212.1 innings also led the league.
On Wednesday, he joins a Yankees rotation featuring himself at the top, followed by Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, Domingo German and potentially Jordan Montgomery, in no particular order.
Clean-shaven and now pitching for his childhood team, Gerrit Cole, the Cole Train, is ready to roll in the Bronx for the New York Yankees.
