Yankees Outspending 25 Years of Pirates Free Agency on Gerrit Cole Deal Says More About Pittsburgh
By Adam Weinrib
Every so often in the game of baseball, you'll see statistics presented to you in an effort to shame big-spending teams for creating a warped mockery of everything joyous about the game of baseball. Using money? In THIS economy?!
But, without fail, these statistics reflect much more poorly on the lower end of the totem pole than they do on the big spenders.
Take, for instance, the latest figures meant to shame the Yankees for their acquisition of Gerrit Cole, which end up shaming the Pittsburgh Pirates instead.
The Yankees committed more money to Gerrit Cole ($324M) than the Pirates have to free agents in the last 25 years ($299.5M).
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) December 11, 2019
Yeah, that's...that's bad behavior? Not sure what you're driving at?
It's simple, really: THIS GAME HAS NO SALARY CAP. If a team is unwilling to pay for a powerful luxury like Cole, that's fine. But if they cannot equal his total contract in 25 full years of the sport, a number that would only take, say, six moderately-sized free agent contracts to match, then that's neglectful. And it all falls on ownership.
If an organization goes two-and-a-half decades without even making the type of reasonably-priced free agent acquisitions that could put their roster over the top, then what does that do for comfort?
We know Gerrit Cole signed with the Yanks because of the $ but I do think the way they assured him he would be comfortable on the team, and how they operate helped a tiny bit. Would he sign if they never spoke to him and just faxed over the offer? If Angels were reasonably close?
— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) December 12, 2019
But by all means, keep shaming the Yankees' owners for using their financial resources to craft a better product, and keep pitying the Pirates, run by people who refuse to pay their employees an equivalent wage.