Before Yankees general manager Brian Cashman officially made the trade to bring Josh Donaldson to New York late Sunday night, he spoke with star pitcher Gerrit Cole, who had a bit of a confrontation with Donaldson last year over allegations about Cole using sticky substances on his baseballs.
And when it came to the Bringer of Rain being brought to pinstripes, Cole was fine with it.
“I called Gerrit last night to give him a heads up because of how the public side of this played out last year, so I owed him that phone call,” Cashman said. “I told him we had a transaction that filled areas of need but I wasn’t sure where this aspect sits, but if it is an issue, it’s something we’d like to work through. He said it was fine, and was happy for us to upgrade in some areas.”
“It’s actually not all that uncommon for (Cashman) to fill me in on stuff before it hits the wire, but there’s probably a little extra reason he reached out last night,” Cole added, “but if you’re committed to winning a championship, that kind of stuff doesn’t matter.”
In fact, not only was it fine, but it seems Donaldson and Cole have squashed their beef, meeting in manager Aaron Boone’s office “for a while” on Monday morning.
“I don’t think anything needed to be squared away, just a little bit of listening from both sides and getting to know a new teammate,” Cole said. “I think the conversation was productive for sure, and I’ll leave it at that. As far as where my feet are today, it’s all in the rear-view mirror.”
“We were just having a conversation because, obviously, there was a big stink that was made out of it last year, right? I think both sides wanted to be able to meet and address the issue that was at hand, as far as just hearing one another,” Donaldson added. “Both of us are in the same clubhouse now, and we understand the New York Yankees have a goal as a team and that’s to win a World Series. Obviously this organization felt that bringing me here, along with the other guys that came with me, would be the best for that.
We’re excited about starting the season and what the season is going to entail.”
Here’s what Donaldson had said last June, after metrics showed a poorer-than-usual outing from Cole just after the league’s crackdown on substances:
"Is it coincidence that Gerrit Cole's spin rate numbers went down after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games? Is that possible? I don't know. Maybe. At the same time, with this situation, they've let guys do it."
That was something he wanted to clarify on Monday.
“When I named Cole, I said he was the first person who had pitched since suspensions have been handed down, and I said I thought it was a league problem,” Donaldson said. “I felt the league has addressed the issues at hand, and after that, you didn’t hear from me.”
Cole now-infamously struck Donaldson out the first two times he faced him in his next outing against the Twins before Donaldson hit a game-winning homer, but all of that is now seemingly in the past, and Donaldson said he respects his new teammate as a competitor.
“At the end of the day, both of us are competitor, and I respect Gerrit Cole for being a competitor," Donaldson said. "When you watch him pitch, he competes and he wants to learn. And I think him and I are similar in that scenario. Any other further things about that, I think the league has addressed and that's not up for me to talk about it anymore. If I thought that it was still an issue, I would still talk about it. But I don't."
Boone, who was present for the meeting, doesn’t believe there’s any more issue, either.
“I think it already is buried and a non-issue," Boone said. "If you come in here with the professionalism, and a grit, and a toughness and a competitiveness…you're going to find that's one thing Josh came with here. Not only do I not about it, but I'm excited about because they're like-minded in certain ways, from a competitive standpoint, what they bring from an edge standpoint each and every day. I know two guys that desperately want to win a world championship, and that's a good place to begin. And there's no doubt in my mind that'll sustain not only them, but our team."
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