Andy Pettitte Was Reportedly Part of Yankees' Meeting With Gerrit Cole
By Chris Russo
You can talk specifics all you want, but there is ultimately nobody better to steer Gerrit Cole toward the New York Yankees than the iconic Andy Pettitte.
Turns out, the Yankees' contingent agreed. The five-time World Champion (and Houston Astro) pitcher joined the team's front office in their meeting with Cole, in an effort to sell the high-dollar hurler on his championship dreams.
In the meetings with the mega free agents, teams identify ways to make the player feel most comfortable -- and along those lines, Andy Pettitte was part of the Yankees' contingent that sat down with Gerrit Cole. A very familiar face in HOU, where Cole pitched the last two years.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 5, 2019
Pettitte is the perfect person to speak with Cole. Besides pitching for both the Yankees and the Astros, Pettitte also knows what it is like to leave Texas for New York...twice.
Pettitte actually spent most of his childhood in Deer Park, Texas, on the outskirts of Houston, before making his MLB debut with the Yankees in 1995. After nine years and four World Series Championships, Pettitte returned home to pitch for the Astros alongside Roger Clemens, another Texas native and former Yankee. Then, they both went from Texas to New York again when they returned to the Yankees in 2007.
Like Cole, a native of Newport Beach, California, Pettitte spent most of his major league career far from home. However, Cole also grew up a Yankee fan thanks to his father, a Syracuse native. Though there have been rumors Cole will sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Pettitte left home twice for the Yankees, so maybe he can convince Cole to do so as well.
And if it's rings Cole cares about, as has been the recent rumor, no team can give him a chance to win more consistently than the boys from the Bronx. Just ask someone like Pettitte, who did nothing but win for two decades.