Dodgers Rumors: Are the Yankees the favorites to land Gerrit Cole?

The Dodgers are one of the three teams in on Gerrit Cole.  It appears that the Yankees are in the lead to land the ace right-hander.

The Dodgers have already met with the big three free agents, including the top free agent, Gerrit Cole.  On Saturday, longtime MLB expert Peter Gammons seemed to imply that the Yankees are going to land Cole and “will not be denied” in a series of tweets.  One of the other big MLB insiders, Jeff Passan said that initial offers for Cole should start coming in the next few days.

According to Passan, the Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels are the three teams that are in the race to land Gerrit Cole.  The Dodgers and Angels have a geographical advantage since Cole is from Newport Beach and attended UCLA.  The Angels were Cole’s favorite team growing up and his preference is said to be playing on the west coast which was brought up by his former teammate and former Dodger, Josh Reddick.

The Yankees have some advantages of their own though.  Gerrit has a sister who lives in New York so he could still be close to one of his family members if he decides to don the pinstripes.  The Yankees would also come with a marketing advantage since the Yankees are one of the most famous teams in the world.  But of course, the final decision will likely come down to dollars and years.

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The Angels and Yankees are both said to be willing to offer whatever it takes to land Cole and offer him a blank check of sorts.  Dodgers’ President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is said to be a big fan of Gerrit Cole.  The Dodgers did let Zack Greinke go a few seasons ago when the Diamondbacks topped their offer but unlike Greinke, Cole is still in his prime and at the top of his game.

The big question will come down to how much does Andrew Friedman want Gerrit Cole?  Is he willing to offer a contract beyond the comfort level of the current ownership group?  Would ownership give Friedman the green light to offer “stupid money” to land Cole?  There’s always a chance but with Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon out on the free-agent market, the chances are slim.

Right now it looks like the New York Yankees are in the driver’s seat to land Gerrit Cole but as we all know from past off-seasons, the rumors seem to change by the day, if not the hour.  It appears to be a three-team race for Gerrit Cole with the evil empire of to a sizable lead.