Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole opted out of his contract with the New York Yankees following their World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cole made the decision not so he could become a free agent,

SAN ANTONIO — The New York Yankees declined to give ace Gerrit Cole a contract extension by Monday’s deadline, but Cole ultimately decided that he didn’t want to leave as a free agent anyway and is staying with the Yankees for at least the next four ...

Cole forced the Yankees’ hand on Saturday by exercising the only option included in the nine-year, $324 million contract that he signed when he was a free agent in December 2019. The original contract allowed the Yankees to nullify the opt-out by adding $36 million and one year to the original pact to make it $360 million for 10 years.