Gerrit Cole says nevermind, un-opts-out

Over the weekend, it was reported that Gerrit Cole was exercising the opt-out clause in his contract with the New York Yankees. That clause allowed him to opt out of the final four years of his contract, which guarantees him $144 million from 2025-28.

I wrote at the time that Cole almost certainly wouldn’t hit the open market, because the Yankees had the right to void the opt out by adding one year at $36 million to his contract. I added as a caveat:

One can argue that, after pitching just 95 innings due to arm issues, the Yankees should let the 2023 Cy Young Award winner test the market rather than guarantee the $180 million. That seems, however, pretty unlikely.

Well, it turns out the…