TAMPA — Nine months after putting Gerrit Cole squarely in the crosshairs of MLB’s crackdown on sticky substances, Josh Donaldson is about to share a clubhouse with the Yankees’ ace.
Cole and Donaldson became teammates Sunday night when the Yankees pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela to the Twins for Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt.
The deal comes with some rough edges that might need smoothing over after Donaldson called out Cole last June for the use of illegal substances on the mound.
“Is it coincidence that Gerrit Cole’s spin rate numbers went down [Thursday] after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?” the third baseman told Minnesota reporters. “Is that possible? I don’t know. Maybe. At the same time, with this situation, they’ve let guys do it.”
In addition to the minor leaguers being suspended for using foreign substances, MLB issued a memo to teams last June 3 that there would be greater enforcement on the long-unpoliced rule about pitchers not using sticky substances on the mound. That night — the game Donaldson referenced — Cole’s spin rates went down noticeably as he got knocked around by the Rays.
In his next start — a day after he gave an awkward non-answer when asked whether he used Spider Tack — Cole faced the Twins and struck out Donaldson in each of his first two at-bats.
Donaldson, the former MVP who referred to pitchers’ use of sticky substances as “the next steroids of baseball ordeal,” later said he did not regret calling out Cole, noting that he was not the only pitcher to have his spin rates decrease during the first week of June. But he also took notice of Cole’s non-answer about his use of Spider Tack.
“Not up to me to judge,” he said. “That’s him and his camp. Time is going to tell what happens. I’m not in his position, so I don’t have to wear whether I can sleep at night.”
In his first trip to The Bronx after calling out Cole, Donaldson also heard the wrath of Yankees fans, getting booed heavily throughout the series last August.