Gerrit Cole Agrees To 9-Year, $324 Deal With New York Yankees

Houston Astros starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) throws against the New York Yankees during the second inning of game three of the 2019 ALCS playoff baseball series at Yankee Stadium.
Photo credit Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole has agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the New York Yankees, according to RADIO.com MLB Insider Jon Heyman.
The deal is the most ever for a pitcher in Major League Baseball. It tops Stephen Strasburg's deal to return to the World Series champion Washington Nationals for seven years and $245 million, which he signed Monday.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Cole has an opt-out clause after the fifth year of his deal.

Cole and Strasburg are both represented by agent Scott Boras. 

Strasburg was crowned the World Series MVP after his Nationals beat Cole's Astros in seven World Series games.

Both pitchers would become free agents. But it always seemed a distinct possibility Cole, who was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award, finishing second to his teammate Justin Verlander, would leave.

In the immediacy of Houston's World Series defeat, Cole was seen wearing a Boras Corporation cap and seemed reluctant to conduct standard postgame interviews with media, saying he was no longer employed by the team.

The following day, Cole tweeted a note to Astros fans and the organization for making Houston feel like home since he was traded from the Pirates in 2018.
Related: Gerrit Cole: 'It Was a Pleasure' To Play For Astros

Now, the Astros are without possibly their best pitcher going into the 2020 season.

A report earlier Tuesday by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported the Astros would be willing to trade Carlos Correa for the right deal in order to free up some payroll.

Breaking: Gerrit Cole to Yankees. 9 years. 36M per. 324M total.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2019