Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on CC Sabathia: ‘Inspiration for me to be a Yankees’

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What do current New York Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole and former Bronx Bomber CC Sabathia have in common? When you compare the resumes side-by-side, the similarities are striking.

Gerrit Cole

6x MLB All-Star
AL Cy Young
AL Wins Leader
World Series Champion
Yankees No. 1 pitcher
Charitable foundation to help youth in the community (Gerrit and Amy Cole Foundation)
Made history at the time by signing the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history with the Yankees – a nine-year, $324 million contract in Dec. 2019

CC Sabathia

6x MLB All-Star
AL Cy Young
2x AL Wins Leader
World Series Champion
Yankees No. 1 pitcher (when he was playing)
Charitable foundation to help youth in the community (PitCCh In Foundation)
Made history at the time by signing the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history with the Yankees – a seven-year, $191 million contract in Dec. 2008

These are two separate resumes! Not the same one copied and pasted. I promise.

So it’s fascinating to hear how Sabathia, the former ace for the Yankees, was a motivating factor for Cole, the current star pitcher for the Yankees, to come to the Bronx.

“Competitor, Hall of Famer, excellent pitcher, true pitcher,” Cole told me when describing Sabathia. “An inspiration for me to come here and be a Yankee and for Amy and I to make an impact in the community.”

Back on March 10, the Yankees announced Cole would be having Tommy John surgery, ending his season before their AL pennant defense even started. He’ll miss the entire 2025 season (including the postseason) and part of 2026.

It certainly brings up the question of what if? What would the 2025 Yankees look like with their superstar ace at the top of their rotation this fall?

The Yankees currently sit five games out of first place in the American League East and lead the Boston Red Sox by 1.5 games for the top AL Wild Card spot.

For a team that returned to the World Series for the first time since 2009 last season, the Yankees are trying to prove that 2024 was no fluke by getting back to the Fall Classic and, this time, finishing the job.

Cole is currently the third-highest paid pitcher in baseball at $36 million per year, behind Zack Wheeler ($42 million per year with the Philadelphia Phillies and Jacob DeGrom ($40 million per year with the Texas Rangers).

Anything is possible in October, which means the Yankees should certainly be taken seriously this postseason even without their $300 million man. But if it isn’t meant to be, what about 2026?

When Cole was a kid, he attended the 2001 World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks. He held a sign that said “YANKEE FAN TODAY TOMORROW FOREVER,” and a photograph shared by local NYC newspaper Newsday went viral in 2019 after he signed his record-breaking contract. He even brought the sign to his introductory press conference with the Yankees.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on CC Sabathia: ‘Inspiration for me to be a Yankees’ — Danielle Parhizkaran-Imagn Images

Can Gerrit Cole, just like Sabathia, help lead the Yankees back to their rightful place at the top of the baseball world? We’ll just have to wait and find out.

Yankee fans are hoping Cole will be holding up a different sign in the near future, this time through a ticker tape parade in Lower Manhattan on a chilly November afternoon: “WORLD SERIES CHAMPION TODAY TOMORROW FOREVER”

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