Yankees $324 Million Superstar May Be Available Opening Door for Red Sox

Could the Red Sox give the Yankees star a call this winter?

Jul 12, 2020; Bronx, New York, United States; A view of the New York Yankees logo and seat number of an empty seat during a simulated game during summer camp workouts at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Could the Boston Red Sox look to the club's biggest rival to fill the team's biggest roster hole?

Boston has a handful of roster holes it needs to fill this winter. This includes at least one starting pitcher, one or two right-handed bats, and at least two high-leverage relievers. Boston needs to be active and it sounds like it will be.

The Red Sox should consider all options, and one player who surprisingly has been floated as an option who could hit the open market is New York Yankees superstar Gerrit Cole. FanSided's Chris Landers called Cole someone who "could price themselves" out of New York.

"This is the big one," Landers said. "Cole can opt out of the four years and $144 million remaining on his deal at the end of this season, and how much financial sense that would make hinges in large part on how he performs over the next few weeks. There are some red flags surrounding Cole; he just turned 34, he missed a large chunk of this season with an elbow injury, and his velocity and whiff rate are both trending in the wrong direction. A shaky postseason, and suddenly, teams might be wary of handing him the bag on free agency, making the prospect of opting in seem much more appealing...

"Shove in October, and it's not at all hard to see a team with money to spend and a hole in the rotation convincing Cole that his market value is higher than the $36 million the Yankees are set to pay him next season. (Although with Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes, and Max Fried also available, this does figure to be a fairly crowded pitching class.) Soto will be the Yankees' first, second, and third priorities this winter, meaning that Cole might be headed elsewhere if he does decide to test the market."

If Cole hits the open market and the Yankees don't bring him back, why not give him a call? It would help the Red Sox while hurting the Yankees. That seems like a win-win.

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