Late yesterday, we found out that the Yankees are making Gerrit Cole a priority, and may have gone as far as telling him that during their in-person meeting this week. There are still rumors that Cole prefers LA, but when we hear that the Yankees are backing up the Brinks truck, we get excited.
All of #Yankees Twitter firing up at the Cole rumors pic.twitter.com/M9gNkjkFkZ
— JJ (@JJFromTheBronx) December 6, 2019
There is only so much we can do if Cole is dead set on playing close to home. Palm trees just don’t last in NYC. We can send CC to meet with him and tell him how great living in New York is. We can send Andy Pettitte to meet with him and tell him that winning in New York trumps any success you could have anywhere else in the world. This will all help, but if Cole wants to be in LA, we can’t control that. We can, however control, a couple of other things.
We can control the money. If what Jeff Passan is saying is true, we understand that money talks, and it’s time to start talking. If we give Gerrit Cole an offer that he can’t refuse, and we sell him on New York, we put ourselves in a position to sign the best free agent pitcher of all time. However, in the age of every athlete having a personal brand, there is one thing that could be thrown in, and that throw-in is up to Luke Voit.
If @GerritCole45 wants 45 as part of signing with the #Yankees would you switch @LLVIII40?
— JJ (@JJFromTheBronx) December 6, 2019
I’m not saying that the number is a make or break deal, but Cole’s handles on Twitter and Instagram both have the number 45 in them. Cole wore 45 on both the Pirates and the Astros, and I’m sure he’d like to wear it in New York. Sure, the 45 in Houston and Pittsburgh won’t matter when Cole wins a couple of World Series in the Bronx and has his number retired in Monument Park. But if it helps persuade Cole to sign with us now, Voit needs to step up.
A simple quote tweet of “Yes” (that will probably send my follower count to the moon) would pop up as a notification on Cole’s phone and tell him that no matter how badly he wants to be home, he’s got a brother in the Bronx. Where you have a brother, you have family, and if you have family, you’re home.
I legitimately just convinced myself while I wrote this that Luke Voit holds the keys to this deal. Do the right thing Luke, and show us you care.
