"I'm pretty sure Gerrit Cole grew up a Yankees fan" - When Giancarlo Stanton campaigned to bring ace pitcher to New York
During the 2019 season, Giancarlo Stanton and the New York Yankees looked good. They made the postseason, going all the way to the American League Championship Series, but lost to the Houston Astros.
The club was looking to add more during the offseason, and one player stood out the most. Gerrit Cole, one of Houston's aces, was a free agent, which had the Bronx Bombers doing their all to recruit him.
During an interview with TMZ, Stanton was asked directly if he wanted to see his team go after Cole. He did not take much time to answer, knowing just how good the hard-throwing righty is:
"You can never go wrong with Cole or Strasburg, so yeah."
While Stephen Strasburg was another interesting name, the Yanks seemed to buckle down on recruiting Cole. After all, Cole grew up a fan of the Bronx Bombers. Stanton said:
"Well, I'm pretty sure Gerrit grew up a Yankees fan, so he'd always like to do that."
During that offseason, NY's front office spent much time and resources going after Cole. It paid off as he is still with the club today, acting as the team's ace.
Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton have been huge for the Yankees
It did not take Gerrit Cole long to sign with the Yankees. He agreed to a nine-year, $324 million deal to be the club's next ace, and he has not looked back.
During his five seasons in New York, Cole has accrued a 59-28 record with a 3.12 ERA. He has been an arm that the team can depend on with Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge taking care of things on the offensive side.
This year, the Yanks look like the complete package. After adding players like Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto, the pressure has been taken off of Stanton and Judge to perform.
The Bronx Bombers were the top team in the very competitive American League East. Thanks to Stanton's offensive barrage, they quickly took down the Kansas City Royals and are now matched up with the Cleveland Guardians.
The Yanks took Game 1 against the Guardians by a score of 5-2 and have Cole on the bump for Game 2. If they can go up two games against Cleveland, it would put them in the driver's seat for the remainder of the series.