Thoughts after the Yankees land Gerrit Cole

(Presswire)

Eleven years after being the team's first round pick, Gerrit Cole is finally a New York Yankee. Late Tuesday night Cole and the Yankees agreed to a nine-year contract worth $36M per year, or $324M total. Some quick contract details and nuggets:

• $324M is the richest pitching contract in history.
• $36M is the richest average annual value in history, pitcher or position player. 
• Second longest contract for a pitcher (Wayne Garland got 10 years and $2.8M in 1975).
• Cole gets a full-no trade clause and an opt-out after Year 5.
• There are no deferrals. It's a straight nine-year contract.

"I had a couple of interactions with (our) players. I think there's some excitement," Aaron Boone told Lindsey Adler with a laugh earlier today. Aaron Judge wasn't exactly shy about it on Twitter. Feels good, eh? Been a while since I felt like this after a free agent signing. To the thoughts.

1. Had to happen. The Yankees had to sign Cole. Had to. They missed out on way too many high-end starting pitchers in recent years (Patrick Corbin, Justin Verlander, etc.) and this was their last opportunity to add an ace to this core. There is no one like Cole scheduled to become a free agent anytime soon (partly because there are so few pitchers like Cole) and the Yankees don't have the farm system to trade for an ace. It was now or never. The Yankees would have gone into 2020 as AL East favorites and a bona fide World Series contender with or without Cole, but the goal is not simply to be the favorites. The goal is to be in the best possible position to be the last team standing and Cole fills an obvious need atop the rotation. This is all about getting over the hump in October. Not winning games in June and July. Tell me this isn't exciting:

1. Gerrit Cole
2. Luis Severino
3. James Paxton
4. Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka, No. 4 starter, is a hell of a thing. The Yankees had to start a gassed Chad Green with their season on the line in ALCS Game 6 this past season and it predictably went poorly. As good as they've been the last three years, the Yankees have always been an arm short in the postseason, whether it was starting Green in Game 6 this year, CC Sabathia in ALCS Game 7 in 2017, or the entire rotation getting ripped to shreds in the 2018 ALDS. There's been a clear need for a frontline starter the last few years -- Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman readily admitted it -- and the Yankees have that guy now. Cole is a difference-maker. He is a balance of power player. He can swing a division race or a postseason series all by himself. The Yankees have built an impressive position player core and the Paxton-Tanaka-Severino rotation was good enough to get them to within two wins of the World Series this year. There was that one missing piece though, and if the Yankees did not get Cole this offseason, I don't see how they would've gotten that one last piece otherwise. Cashman called Cole his "white whale" prior to the signing -- the Yankees usually keep things very close to the vest, so the fact Cashman made a public declaration like that tells you how serious the Yankees were -- and this was an opportunity that could not be missed. "I think he’ll thrive. His greatness, for one thing. His mindset. We got to spend a lot of time together and really learn about him, and him about us. Everything in him suggests that this is a guy that would thrive anywhere, but I’m confident, especially in New York," Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. 

2. The ninth year wins. Sounds like the guaranteed ninth year is what put the Yankees over the top. Jorge Castillo reports the Dodgers offered eight years and $300M with deferrals, and the Angels came in at eight years and less than $300M, also with deferrals. Alden Gonzalez says the Dodgers felt good about landing Cole right up until they were informed he was signing with the Yankees, and they believe it was a "he just wants to be a Yankee" situation. I dunno, seems to me it was a "they're giving me an extra $24M" situation. The Yankees brought analytics guru Mike Fishman and new pitching coach Matt Blake to their meeting with Cole to teach him about the organization, and they also brought along Andy Pettitte to give a more personal touch. Joel Sherman and Lindsey Adler (subs. req'd) both report Pettitte was an important presence at the meeting. "We knew one of (Cole’s) favorite players growing up was Andy Pettitte ... I think him being there as a fellow great pitcher, I knew it would be valuable, and I’m confident it was incredibly valuable," Aaron Boone said even before the Cole news broke. Most notably though, Buster Olney says Hal Steinbrenner spoke to Scott Boras directly and put the ninth guaranteed year on the table, and that's when things swung in their favor. Meetings with childhood heroes and chats about analytics and stories of parading down the Canyon of Heroes are cool and all. In the end, money (and years) talk. Nine years is what it took to sign Cole and I am totally cool with it, but gosh, nine years is a long time. To drive home the point, here are the top 28-year-old pitchers (Cole's 2019 season age) from nine years ago:

1. Justin Verlander: +8.6 WAR
2. Jered Weaver: +6.9 WAR
3. Phil Humber: +3.4 WAR
4. Ervin Santana: +2.8 WAR
5. Gavin Floyd: +2.8 WAR

Verlander's still awesome! And Santana was still active this past season, albeit in Triple-A. Weaver was done by 34 though, Floyd by 33, and Humber threw only 156.2 more big league innings following his age 28 season. The next five names on that list: Al Aceves, Jeff Karstens, Jim Johnson, Sean Marshall, and John Axford. Cole is much more Verlander than Humber or Floyd, but the point is nine years is an eternity in baseball and chances are Cole's contract will be an albatross the final two or three years. With any luck, it'll only be an albatross for one year. As ugly as this contract has the potential to be down the line, it is still something the Yankees had to do. The Yankees have Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres in their primes right now. I have no idea what the roster will look like in three years, let alone nine, but I know what it looks like right now, and right now it is a championship-caliber team that needed an ace, and the Yankees now have that ace. It is so ridiculously hard to win a World Series title. It is not as simple as having the best players. You need the best players with their primes synced up, and you need them to execute in the biggest moments, and even then there's a whole lotta luck mixed in. Cole turned 29 in September. He fits the age group of this core and that is not something that should be overlooked. Cole aligns perfectly with the roster. Giving a pitcher nine years is asking for trouble, but you can't land an elite free agent without signing up for some pain down the line. It is the cost of doing business. The Yankees, given their financial might, are better positioned to absorb that pain than any other team in the game, and they used that to their advantage when they put the ninth year on the table. "We’re just using every tool in the toolbox. Not just the big hammer, but it doesn’t mean the big hammer’s not still available," Brian Cashman told Erik Boland, referring to the team's knack for shrewd under-the-radar pickups and their ability to outspend everyone.

3. Cole is insanely good. Obvious statement is obvious, but it is something that is worth spelling out. Cole is arguably the best pitcher on the planet right now -- he's no worse than a top three pitcher, I'd say -- and he gets a thumbs up from scouts and statheads alike. The guy threw 212.1 innings this past season with a league-leading 2.50 ERA, a league-leading 2.64 FIP, and a league-leading 326 strikeouts. The 326 strikeouts are the most in baseball since Randy Johnson had 334 strikeouts in 2002, and they're the most by a right-handed pitcher since Nolan Ryan had 341 strikeouts in 1977. His 39.9% strikeout rate set a new record for a qualified starter. The only knock against Cole is the 29 home runs (1.23 HR/9 and 16.9 HR/FB%), and 25 of those 29 were solo shots. I can't embed video in Patreon, so I implore you to click here and watch this two-minute video of pitching porn. Here are the numbers on Cole's stuff (MLB averages in parenthesis):

Cole had the second highest average fastball velocity among starting pitchers this past season (Noah Syndergaard led at 97.8 mph), and he had top 10 spin rates on his fastball, slider, and curveball. According to the pitch values at FanGraphs, Cole had the best fastball in baseball this season and the 12th best slider. It's top 1% stuff with control (5.9%) and the aptitude to make adjustments. Cole broke out last year when the Astros got him to stop throwing so many sinkers and start throwing more four-seamers (particularly up in the zone with two strikes), and also more sliders as well.

I can understand there may be concern Cole will take a step back now that he's no longer with the Astros and they can't whisper sweet nothings into his ear, but the Yankees are getting the elite version of Cole, not the Pirates version who had to be fixed. Getting a pitcher to change his approach is not as simple as saying "do this." The player has to buy in and implement the changes, which is easier said than done. Cole has done all that already. By all accounts he's a smart and inquisitive person who constantly looks for ways to get better. We know he is willing and able to make adjustments and that's important, because at some point he'll have to make adjustments again. That's just baseball. Cole really is the total package. Velocity, spin, deep arsenal, aptitude, and despite all those strikeouts, ruthlessly efficient too. Cole averaged 4.12 pitches per plate appearance in 2019, the third most in baseball, yet he still completed six innings in 29 of his 33 starts and seven innings in 15 of his 33 starts, and only three times did he throw as many as 110 pitches. His average start this past season was 6.43 innings and 101.9 pitches. It's not uncommon to see a guy run high pitch counts when he strikes out so many batters. James Paxton is a good example of that. That's not Cole though. He gets the strikeouts yet still keeps his pitch count in check, and pitches deep into the game. It's remarkable. Take everything about modern baseball, squeeze it into a 6-foot-4 and 225 lb. frame, and you get Gerrit Cole.

4. Long-term outlook. Cole strikes me as a candidate to age well and there are a few reasons for that. One, he does not rely velocity, though he has plenty of it. Cole brings two excellent breaking balls to the table in his slider and curveball, and his changeup is a quality pitch as well. Every pitcher loses velocity as they age. That's just part of life. Cole has the weapons to compensate as his fastball slips. Two, Cole is starting from such a high baseline with his velocity that the inevitable decline could be slower than usual. He's regularly in the 97-98 mph range now. There are several ticks between now and 91-92 mph, where a pitcher's outlook really starts to change. The drop from mid-90s to low-90s can be quick. When you're sitting in the upper-90s, the fall into the low-90s can take that much longer, and prolong the guy's peak. Three, Cole has already shown the ability to take information and adjust, and making adjustments is the key to remaining an effective ballplayer long-term. CC Sabathia is a Hall of Fame level talent, but it wasn't until he lost velocity well into his 30s that he had to make adjustments and change his pitching style. It was not easy. That adjustment took time. Cole hasn't had to adjust to reduced velocity yet, but he has revamped his pitching style, and that speaks well to his ability to make further adjustments down the line. A smart pitcher who can take information, digest it, and implement changes on the fly is a good bet to age well. That ability to adjust is half the battle. And four, Cole has really great mechanics. Everything is compact, he repeats his delivery well, and the ball explodes out of his hand. It's not a max effort delivery and that bodes well for his long-term health. It's not a guarantee he'll stay healthy, even pitchers with textbook deliveries break down, but the athleticism and mechanics are a point in his favor. There is an inherent injury risk with every pitcher and Cole is no different, and he could suffer a catastrophic injury at some point in the next nine years. That's baseball. As long as he stays healthy, I think Cole has the stuff, the mechanics, and the smarts to remain effective deep into his 30s. I don't ever expect him to have another season like this season -- 2019 was very likely a career year for Cole -- but I expect him to remain a top flight starter for another few years, and continue to be effective once velocity decline and age begin to set in.

5. Payroll situation. Turns out adding a $36M a year player does a number on the ol' luxury tax payroll. Who knew? The luxury tax threshold is $208M next season, which means the second tier is $228M, and the third tier is $248M. Here's where the Yankees stand after the Cole signing:

• Guaranteed contracts (10 players): $168.6M
• Arbitration-eligibles (9 players): $34.6M (per MLBTR projections)
• Pre-arbitration-eligibles (7 players): $4.2M (estimated to fill out 26-man roster)
• Dead money: $21.9M (Jacoby Ellsbury)
• Miscellaneous: $18M (estimate for benefits, rest of 40-man roster, etc.)

That all adds up to a whopping $247.3M. The Yankees are right at the $248M third tier, for all intents and purposes. In a pre-taped interview with the YES Network earlier this month (video link), Hal Steinbrenner said he would prefer not to go into the third tier and incur the harshest penalties, but he didn't rule it out completely. “It’s a big deal. It’s something we’d certainly prefer not to do, because there are June draft ramifications. There are numerous ramifications. But that is something that I would consider," Steinbrenner said. The Yankees are right at the third luxury tier and, at the absolute minimum, they still have to re-sign or replace Brett Gardner this offseason. The easiest way to clear payroll right now is to trade J.A. Happ. He's said to be on the block, so this is more than speculation. The Yankees attached Bryan Mitchell to Chase Headley to unload Headley's entire $13M salary two years ago and that feels like a minor miracle when I look back on it. Earlier this week the Angels gave the Giants infield prospect Will Wilson, the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft, to get them to take the $12.2M remaining on Zack Cozart's contract. Happ has $17M remaining on his contract, plus there's the $17M vesting option to consider, so it stands to reason the Yankees would have to attach a prospect better than Wilson to Happ to unload the contract. That said, I have to think Happ is a more desirable trade piece than Cozart -- injuries have limited Cozart to 96 games the last two seasons, during which he hit .190/.261/.296 (54 wRC+) with -0.6 WAR -- so perhaps the sweetener won't have to be too sweet. Maybe the Yankees can get away with attaching a fringe 40-man roster player like Albert Abreu or Nick Nelson to Happ, or a lower minors lottery ticket type. My fear is the Yankees wind up using Clint Frazier to salary dump Happ. I'd hate it, and even though Frazier feels like he's as good as gone, I trust Brian Cashman & Co. to figure out another way to unload Happ. Dumping the $17M owed to Happ next season feels like a foregone conclusion at this point, even if the Yankees have to kick in some money in 2021 if the option vests. The payroll x-factor is the Jacoby Ellsbury grievance. The Yankees are planning to convert the final year and $26M on Ellsbury's contract into non-guaranteed because they claim he sought medical treatment without their approval. I have no idea how likely it is the Yankees escape the $26M -- I assume they have what they consider sufficient evidence to prove their case in front of an independent arbitrator, but who knows -- or what the timetable is for a ruling. This thing could linger for months. Maybe even years. Kris Bryant and Scott Boras filed their service time grievance against the Cubs in Dec. 2015 and they're still waiting on a resolution. Maybe the Yankees get lucky and this gets resolved soon, or the two sides reach a settlement (unlikely). Seems to me the Yankees have to move forward under the assumption Ellsbury will count against the 2020 luxury tax payroll. Perhaps the Yankees are willing to exceed the $248M third tier this year knowing relief is coming when Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka come off the books after the season. That'd be cool. My guess is they are going to attach a sweetener to Happ to dump that $17M, and use that money to re-sign or replace Gardner and do whatever else they have in mind (re-sign Dellin Betances please), and not go into the $248M tier next season. (As a repeat offender in 2020, the Yankees will pay a 30% tax on every dollar between $208M and $228M, 42% on every dollar between $228M and $248M, and 75% on every dollar over $248M. Also, if they exceed $248M, their 2021 first round pick moves back 10 spots.)

6. Looming CBA changes. The Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to change twice during Cole's nine-year contract. The current CBA expires in Dec. 2021, and assuming a normal five-year term, the next CBA will expire in Dec. 2026 (assuming no work stoppage). Cole's contract doesn't expire until after the 2028 season. MLB and the MLBPA have had preliminary CBA talks throughout this year -- that's a pretty big deal because the two sides rarely talk this far out, so both sides know there are things to work through -- and I think we can assume the Yankees have an idea of what's coming with the next CBA, or at least know what the owners and MLB are willing to concede. It's possible they gave Cole nine years and $36M because they know the luxury tax threshold will jump to something like, say, $250M for the 2022 season, so the long-term impact of Cole's contract won't be quite as harsh. Right now it chews up 17.3% of the $208M luxury tax threshold. In three years it could be 13% or 14%, and down the line it could be as low as 9% or 10%. I suppose the Yankees do not even need to be aware of what the owners are willing to concede in the next CBA. It is reasonable to assume the luxury tax threshold will be raised to some degree. How much is unclear, but a raise is coming. Revenues are sky high and the luxury tax threshold should be raised accordingly. I am convinced the Padres and Phillies entered into the Manny Machado and Bryce Harper contracts under the assumption that the designated hitter will come to the National League before those contracts are up, so they'd have a place to put those guys later in their careers as they age and lose athleticism. Assuming more favorable luxury tax terms are coming during the life of Cole's contract is not crazy. How much did that factor into the team's decision to offer the ninth year and a record annual salary? It's impossible to say, and maybe it didn't factor into the decision-making at all. Maybe it really was as simple as "this guy is outrageously good and he fits our team and our needs perfectly, so let's go be the Yankees and blow everyone else out of the water." Either way, the luxury tax burden of Cole's contract figures to lessen over time as the threshold rises, and, if necessary, that will make swallowing the ugly years at the end of the deal a little easier. (The Yankees released Jacoby Ellsbury with a year remaining on his contract and Alex Rodriguez with a year and two months remaining on his contract. Who's to say Cole won't get the same treatment come 2028?)

7. 40-man roster move. The Cole signing is not yet official. He still has to take his physical and put pen to paper. The smart money is on everything wrapping up in the coming days and the introductory press conference being held sometime next week. The week after that is Christmas and the week after that is New Years, and no one is holding a press conference during the holidays, and no one wants this to drag out into January. Count on there being a press conference next week sometime. Whenever the deal is official, the Yankees will have to clear a 40-man roster spot for Cole and there are no obvious candidates to drop from the roster. I don't have much confidence in this, but this is how I'd line up the 40-man chopping block:

1. Chance Adams
2. Jonathan Holder
3. Stephen Tarpley
4. Mike Ford
5. Ben Heller

I want to see Adams in the bullpen, but the current 40-man roster situation may not allow it. Holder went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in August -- he was throwing to hitters in Tampa in October, according to Lindsey Adler -- and a reliever who operated with only an average fastball when at full strength has little margin for error. If the injury reduces that margin for error at all, Holder may be unrosterable. Ford, Heller, and Tarpley all fall into the fringe roster category. Up-and-down relievers like Heller and Tarpley are perpetually on the 40-man chopping block, and although Ford had a few nice moments this past season, one-dimensional first basemen aren't too hard to replace. Tyler Wade isn't going anywhere now that Didi Gregorius is a Phillie. The Yankees can't give up the infield depth. Cutting a recent Rule 5 Draft protection guy like Brooks Kriske completely defeats the purpose of adding him to the 40-man roster. Put Kriske on waivers now and any other team can claim him and keep him without the Rule 5 Draft strings attached. They could send him to the minors and everything. At least as a Rule 5 Draft pick, there's a chance he'd come back and you'd get to keep him. There's no getting him back with a straight waiver claim. The Yankees could swing a trade between now and Cole's contract being finalized -- attaching a 40-man roster guy or two to J.A. Happ would open space, for example -- but the Yankees won't rush into anything. They're not going to take something less than the best possible deal for Happ just to get the 40-man in order, you know? The bet here is Adams gets the heavy-ho for Cole and the Yankees eventually trade him for nothing in particular, which is the usual return for a player who has been designated for assignment. The 40-man crunch is real.

8. Trade for a draft pick? As noted earlier this week, the Yankees will forfeit their second and fifth round 2020 draft picks (currently 64th and 162nd overall) as well as $1M in bonus money for the 2020-21 international signing period to sign Cole. This year the 64th and 162nd picks came with $1.37M in bonus pool money combined. It's a real cost. It's not nearly enough to pass on signing a guy like Cole, but it is a real cost. I wonder whether the Yankees will look to trade for a draft pick to make up for the picks they'll forfeit to sign Cole, and recoup some bonus pool money. They acquired a pick in the Sonny Gray trade last offseason, remember. MLB awards 14 draft picks via lottery to small market teams each year under the guise of competitive balance and those 14 picks are the only tradeable draft picks. Here are the 14 competitive balance picks (the picks will move around a bit as qualified free agents sign, so these overall pick numbers are subject to change):

Competitive Balance Round A (after supplemental first round)
31. Orioles
32. Pirates
33. Royals
34. Diamondbacks
35. Padres
36. Rockies
37. Indians
38. Cardinals

Competitive Balance Round B (after second round)
67. Marlins
68. Tigers
69. Rays
70. Mariners (acquired from Brewers in Omar Narvaez trade)
71. Reds
72. Twins 

These competitive balance picks have been traded for shocking little over the years. The Brewers traded the 41st overall pick to the Rangers for lefty specialist Alex Claudio last offseason, straight up. A pick was the fourth piece in the Paul Goldschmidt trade and the third piece in last winter's Jurickson Profar trade. It's not like these picks are headlining packages for above-average big leaguers. Maybe the Yankees can kill two birds with one stone and turn a fringe 40-man roster player into a draft pick. They'd clear the 40-man logjam and recoup some draft bonus pool space. Looking at that list of competitive balance picks, the perpetually clueless Rockies stand out as a potential trade partner. The Cardinals have traded their competitive balance picks -- it's silly they get a competitive balance pick, but whatever -- for MLB roster help at times, so maybe there's a "spare arm for a pick" trade to be made with them. The Reds traded their competitive balance pick to the Yankees in the Sonny deal last year and the Mike Moustakas signing indicates they are trying to win. Cashing in that draft pick as a trade chip could equal an extra win and a postseason spot in 2020. The perfect world scenario is flipping someone like Chance Adams, Jonathan Holder, or Stephen Tarpley for a draft pick. That'd be cool. Perhaps the Yankees could get a pick back as part of a potential Happ trade. That'd also be cool. The competitive balance pick system has been in place since 2013 and the Yankees have only acquired one pick during that time (in the Gray trade last year). It could be they are willing to go into the 2020 draft with two fewer picks and a smaller bonus pool and just live with the ramifications of the Cole signing. My hunch is they will try to acquire a competitive balance pick at some point this winter. They need to clear 40-man roster space and Happ is likely to be moved. Those are opportunities to recover some of the draft bonus pool space lost in the Cole signing.

9. What's next? Alright, so what's next? The Yankees have their ace and they know what their luxury tax payroll situation looks like heading into next season. The top priority right now is, clearly, re-signing or replacing Brett Gardner. The Yankees need a center fielder to fill in for the injured Aaron Hicks and a Gardner reunion feels inevitable, even though it hasn't happened yet. I suspect things will come together quickly now that the Yankees aren't so laser-focused on Cole. After Gardner, I think dumping J.A. Happ is a priority given the payroll situation. Keeping Happ and re-signing Gardner will push the Yankees up around $260M once you factor in the inevitable in-season call-ups and additions. This is what's still on the agenda this winter (in addition to knocking out contracts with arbitration and pre-arbitration players):

• Re-sign or replace Gardner.
• Salary dump Happ.
• Replace Didi Gregorius?
• Re-sign or replace Dellin Betances?
• Sign a non-roster catcher to compete with Kyle Higashioka in Spring Training.
• Improve on the margins.

There's no sense in numbering things because they can be done in any order. There are no deadlines coming up. The $17M cleared by trading Happ seems like it would be just enough to re-sign Gardner ($8M?) and Betances ($5M?) to one-year deals, and take some wiggle room into the season. There have been no rumblings about a reunion with Austin Romine, and, if nothing else, the Yankees have given off the impression they are comfortable with Higashioka as their backup catcher. He has some power and rates well as a pitch-framer. What more do you want from a backup? Even if the Yankees are ready to go with Higashioka as Gary Sanchez's backup, they're still going to bring in a veteran-ish non-roster guy as depth, and to push Higashioka in Spring Training. Catcher is not a position where you want to get caught shorthanded. Count on the Yankees signing someone between now and the start of camp. As for improving on the margins, that is an unspoken goal at all times. No matter how small, teams look to make upgrades year-round. The recent interest in Tim Hill? That sounds to me like a "we think this guy is better than the 39th or 40th guy on the 40-man roster, so let's get him if we can" rumor. The Yankees have already signed Zack Granite as center field depth, and given their magic touch with guys like Cameron Maybin, Mike Tauchman, and Gio Urshela, every little pickup deserves attention. You never know which random pickup will turn into a surprise +3 WAR player. The Yankees will be on the lookout for the next Urshela or Tauchman all winter. That, along with re-signing or replacing Gardner, salary dumping Happ, and maybe bringing back Betances are on the to-do list.

10. Rapid fire thoughts. Mark Feinsand says the Yankees have interest in free agent catcher Martin Maldonado, which is interesting only because Maldonado served as Cole's personal catcher after (re-)joining the Astros at the deadline this year. Maldonado certainly noticed where Cole wound up. Generally speaking, signing a guy to be a personal catcher strikes me as a terrible idea, but the Yankees need a backup catcher and Maldonado is one of the best true backup catchers sitting in free agency, so it could work. Consider this a #thingtowatch ... I don't know if it has a special meaning for him, but Cole as worn No. 45 throughout his big league career, and it sounds like Luke Voit is willing to give it up. A guy who just signed a $324M contract wants to buy your uniform number? Could be worse. Voit wore No. 40 with the Cardinals (No. 45 is retired for Bob Gibson), but that belongs to Luis Severino. No. 39 (Mike Tauchman) and No. 41 (Miguel Andujar) are taken. Maybe No. 33 now that Greg Bird is gone? Voit seems like he'd be a good No. 33 ... the pitcher who just signed a $324M contract gets to start Opening Day, right? I'd say so. Cole would be the team's third different Opening Day starter in the last three years (Severino last year, Masahiro Tanaka this year) and it would be his second career Opening Day start (2017 with the Pirates). The Yankees open next season with six games on the road, so whoever starts the second game of the season will also start the home opener. Giving the home opener to Tanaka would be cool, though I don't think he'd care one bit.