The New York Yankees and free-agent pitcher Gerrit Cole this week agreed to terms on a massive nine-year, $324 million contract. Here's one way to put that number of dollars into context: It is more than the Braves have guaranteed to all players currently under contract with the team for all future seasons.
The Braves have guaranteed about $306 million to all players in future seasons, or $18 million less than the Yankees guaranteed one player.
The Braves' guaranteed contracts at this point include $101 million for 2020, $67 million for 2021, $34 million for 2022, $25 million for 2023, $24 million for 2024, $24 million for 2025, $21 million for 2026 and $10 million for 2027. Those figures don't include non-guaranteed money, such as club option years in contracts and projected arbitration-set salaries (which are not fully guaranteed until the player is on the opening-day roster).
Cole’s contract is the largest ever for a pitcher in total dollars (eclipsing the seven-year, $245 million deal Stephen Strasburg got from the Washington Nationals a day earlier), the largest for any player in average annual value ($36 million, topping outfielder Mike Trout’s $35.5 million-per-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels) and the fourth largest for any player in total dollars (the largest being Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million contract).
The Braves have been active so far this offseason, albeit choosing to buy well outside baseball's economic stratosphere. They have signed three free agents from other organizations (relief pitcher Will Smith, starting pitcher Cole Hamels and catcher Travis d'Arnaud) and have re-signed four players from last year's team (relievers Chris Martin and Darren O'Day, catcher Tyler Flowers and outfielder Nick Markakis). Those seven contracts, ranging from one to three years, have a total value of $98 million over the full length of the deals – substantial, but collectively only about 30% of the Cole contract or 40% of the Strasburg deal.
Including signed players, arbitration-eligible players and pre-arbitration players, the Braves' projected 2020 payroll currently stands at about $130 million, with more additions, foremost a power-hitting third baseman or outfielder, needed.
