Gerrit Cole staying with Yankees on existing contract

NEW YORK – For the moment, it’s like Gerrit Cole never opted out at all.

The ace right-hander has agreed to stay with the Yankees on the existing deal he initially opted out of, and the two sides will continue to discuss potential extension options, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Monday. The team has not confirmed the news.

There are four years and $144 million remaining on the deal that Cole signed with the Yankees in December 2019, meaning he is still under contract with New York through 2028.

Cole opted out of the remaining four years of the existing contract on Saturday, a move the Yankees could have voided by adding one year and $36 million to the end of the existing deal. But Monday’s decision essentially reverts the situation to the pre-opt-out status quo, with Cole finishing out the remainder of his nine-year, $324 million deal.

Cole and the Yankees can now discuss an extension covering the 2029 season without the constraints of Monday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, potentially at a lesser dollar value.

The American League’s reigning Cy Young Award winner entering 2024, Cole’s season debut was delayed until June due to nerve irritation and edema in the hurler’s pitching elbow. He made 17 starts in the regular season, posting an 8-5 record and 3.41 ERA, with 99 strikeouts across 95 innings. He permitted two runs or fewer in 12 of those 17 starts.

Though his workload was truncated because of the abbreviated season, Cole pitched like an ace in October, including two World Series starts against the Dodgers in which he held the eventual champions to one earned run and eight hits across 12 2/3 innings.

However, Cole’s final outing included a sequence in which he failed to cover first base on a Mookie Betts ground ball to Anthony Rizzo, a play that allowed the first of Los Angeles’ five unearned runs to score in a nightmarish inning.

“I gave it everything I had,” Cole said that night. “I’ll be frustrated, like every time you have a tough loss and you use it to motivate you. But it’s all out there. There’s nothing a whole lot more that I could do.”

A six-time All-Star, Cole has compiled a 59-28 record with a 3.12 ERA and 915 strikeouts across 759 innings with the Yankees.