Scott Boras again reigns supreme as king of the agents. His latest record-shattering contract with Gerrit Cole — the premier starting pitcher on the free agent market — and the presence of three of the highest roller teams (the Yankees, Angels and Dodgers) all salivating to sign him, was his perfect storm.

Unlike the last couple of years when so many of the customary big spending teams — like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers especially — were hamstrung by the luxury tax thresholds, Boras didn’t have to delay and scramble to get a market to form for Cole. It was right there.

The Angels, in the shadow of Cole’s Newport Beach, Calif., home town, were in desperate need of starting pitching to supplement their roster around Mike Trout; The Yankees, who haven’t been to the World Series since 2009, mostly because they’ve lacked a true No. 1 starter, were just as determined to finally remedy that; The Dodgers, who haven’t won a World Series since 1988, decided their missing link, with Clayton Kershaw on the fade, was also a top-of-the rotation starter.

And the talented, hard-throwing, 29-year-old righty just so happens to have been potentially the best pitcher in baseball last year — certainly over the second half when he won his last 16 decisions and had a 4-1 record and 1.72 ERA in the postseason.

Boras did not have to wait for the Winter Meetings to proclaim “let the bidding begin.” It already started once the Yankee contingent of Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone, new pitching coach Matt Blake and Andy Pettitte made the cross-country trek to meet with Cole in California last week (and came away convinced he would have no problem pitching in the Bronx). At the time, they thought Cole’s ultimate market would wind up somewhat shy of $300 million. Then Boras sent a jolt through the Winter Meetings by announcing his first record-setting deal for a pitcher, the Nationals’ seven years, $245 million to 31-year-old Stephen Strasburg.

Now it was obvious Cole was going to get in excess of $300 million. This is where Angels’ owner Arte Moreno, who has been loath to deal with Boras over the years and reluctant to get into big money, longterm contracts in excess of five years (after being burned badly on Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton), began drawing the line.

At the same time, Hal Steinbrenner — who has wanted Cole ever since the Yankees drafted him No. 1 in 2008 only to be spurned when he opted to attend UCLA — invoked his “inner George” and essentially told his troops: “I want this guy, and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get him.”

Once the Dodgers, who had an unwritten policy of no longterm contracts beyond five years, made it known they were going to be in at the eight years, $300 million range, Hal went to the ninth year.

That final deal cost nine years, $324 million with a full no-trade clause and an opt-out after five years. It far surpassed Strasburg’s deal for the most total money and highest annual average value ($36M) for a pitcher. It’s a ridiculous amount of money, likely doomed to be a late-term albatross as Giancarlo’s Stanton’s $30M per through 2028, when Cole turns 35-36 and is still owed some $130-$140 million. But Hal Steinbrenner is not concerned about that. This deal was for now.

The way Hal looked at it, next year both Masahiro Tanaka ($23M) and James Paxton (another Boras client) will be free agents and Cole provides maximum rotation protection. More importantly, he checks all the boxes the Yankees would want for a franchise pitcher: Makeup (i.e. proven big game ability), a fluid easy delivery conducive to avoiding injury, and clubhouse leadership.

I’m told Pettitte played a big part in the Yankees’ recruiting pitch to Cole, selling him on the benefits of playing in New York (as opposed to, say, Houston) where winning is always paramount. It was also pointed out to him that a big reason Mike Mussina is in the Hall of Fame now was because he chose to sign with the Yankees.

It was a familiar Yankee pitch, not seen for quite a few years, perhaps because there hasn’t been a player quite so perfect and necessary for them until now: We are the Yankees, the most storied franchise in baseball, where, as George Steinbrenner once said, winning is the most important thing next to breathing.

Most of the baseball world will be appalled by this outrageous extravagance on the Yankees’ part, and the media cries of “there they go again, buying the pennant” will be renewing in force. I’m sure they could care less. For as Hal Steinbrenner surely knows, this was a signing that would make the Boss proud.