Gerrit Cole was born in Newport Beach, California in September 1990. He is a starting pitcher who bats and throws right handed. Cole pitched for the UCLA Bruins and was drafted #1 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He had a an $8 million signing bonus and made his MLB debut for the Pirates in 2013. Cole pitched for the Pirates from 2013 to 2017 and for the Houston Astros from 2018 to 2019. Gerrit Cole was an MLB All-Star in 2015, 2018, and 2019. He was the American league ERA leader and the MLB strikeout leader in 2019. In 2019 he became the 18th player on MLB history to strike out at least 300 batters in a single season. In 2018 he signed a one year deal for $6.75 million with the Pirates. Contract: In 2019 he signed with the New York Yankees for $324 million. It is one of the largest contracts in sports history.