I thought I had given myself an easy assignment.
One day chatting with Gerrit Cole, it hit me that he must be moving up among the best free-agent signings in Yankees history. I figured, sure, make a list. How hard could that be? A Reggie here, a Goose there, a CC.
But the thing is, the Yankees have signed a lot of free agents over the half-century of the process, and despite what might be the perception, not everyone of them was Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano.
So just as a way to thin the herd, I needed rules. Thus, I decided not to include re-signed free agents — such as David Cone, Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams. Those players already had experience playing for the Yankees. I wanted the bucket that Cole belonged — totally new to the situation.
Though that simplified matters, it hardly made it easy. Even a top-10 list was going to leave out really good Yankees. It also was going to force the thought exercise about — among other items — do you prioritize being valuable to championships above all else, or does the annual excellence of, say, Dave Winfield push him onto the list over, say, a Johnny Damon, who was so central to the 2009 championship?
Cole has had four terrific years with the Yankees and clearly has the chance to climb, maybe even to the top if he continues to perform well through the life of his contract and wins a title or two. Anyway, this is one person’s list. Let the debates begin:
1. Reggie Jackson: He is No. 1 for so many reasons, namely that he was signed for five years at $2.96 million after the Yankees had been swept in the World Series by the Reds with the thought he was a finishing piece. He became Mr. October. Two titles. He was a candy bar and a celebrity and a main character in the Yankees soap opera of the era.
2. Orlando Hernandez: This might be a tad high for many, but if you told me there was a game for all my money and I could have anyone from the past 30 Yankees seasons, I would not even blink — El Duque. In six Yankees regular seasons, he had a 3.96 ERA. In 17 postseason games with the Yankees, he had a 2.65 ERA, and he was instrumental in three titles. His seven shutout innings in ALCS Game 4 in Cleveland essentially saved the Yankees’ greatest season in 1998. His story in fleeing Cuba was movie-of-the-week stuff, and for $6.6 million over four years, the Yankees signed a theatrical, big-game master.
3. CC Sabathia: He was brought in for a then-pitching record seven years at $161 million to be the ace for a championship team and unite a fraying clubhouse. Check and check, in Year 1.
4. Goose Gossage: The intimidation. The fastball. The mustache. The Yankees won a championship in 1977 and Sparky Lyle won the AL Cy Young, and still George Steinbrenner invested $3.6 million over six years on Gossage. The payoff was another title in 1978 and six Gossage seasons in which he had a 2.10 ERA.
5. Dave Winfield: “Mr. May” might linger, and the 1-for-22 World Series in 1981 vs. the Dodgers and, of course, a feud with Steinbrenner that led to The Boss’ suspension. But in nine Yankees seasons, he won five Gold Gloves, had four top-eight MVP finishes and had a 134 OPS-plus. You always wanted more, but he brought the Yankees plenty.
6. Catfish Hunter: He is here as a trailblazer and for giving the last of his arm to the Yankees. He was the first of the big-money free agents, signing a five-year, $3.25 million deal that in many ways established how Steinbrenner would do big business. In his first Yankees season, 1975, Hunter won 23 games and pitched 328 innings. He was never really the same, but did serve as a contributor on the 1977-78 championships.
7. Gerrit Cole: Really, I did not know where to place him on the list. I am surely biased by knowing he has a lot more to give after the AL Cy Young, and winning that Cy is why he is on the list and Mike Mussina, who currently did more as a Yankee, is not. Cole needs a postseason akin to Sabathia’s 2009, carrying the team, to truly cement himself on the list.
8. Hideki Matsui: It was on his second Yankees contract that he won his World Series MVP in 2009. But on the first one, three years at $21 million, Matsui played in every Yankees game from 2003-05 and assembled a 125 OPS-plus. If Duque is my big-game pitcher, I very well might take Matsui for the biggest at-bat. He was fearless.
9. David Wells: He has a unique place on this list — he was signed as a free agent at two different points, after the 1996 season and after the 2002 campaign. He brought a lot of headaches. But he also threw a perfect game, was the ace of the 1998 champs, was a key piece in a trade to Toronto for Roger Clemens and won 68 games over 851 ²/₃ innings in four disjointed Yankees seasons.
10. Jimmy Key: There were so many ways to go here, and all are legitimate. Damon. Mussina. Mark Teixeira. Masahiro Tanaka. Tommy John. That first DJ LeMahieu contract. But I just feel Key gets lost to time. He was such a vital transitional player from the dark days of the early 1990s to the dynasty by the end of the decade. The Yankees literally tried to sign seven other free-agent starters after the 1992 season, notably Cone and Greg Maddux. They settled for Key at four years at $17 million when no one else took their money.
Key brought an unflappable nature, professionalism and expectations of winning as the Yankees began their still ongoing run of winning seasons in his first year, 1993. He finished fourth in the AL Cy vote that year and second the following season. He missed most of 1995, but was a huge piece in the 1996 championship, including winning the World Series Game 6 clincher.
