Phillies ‘more committed to re-signing there top player than….
The Philadelphia Phillies have made it clear that they want to keep right-handed reliever Zack Wheeler around beyond the 2024 season, so much so that one source believes a new contract will be agreed upon this winter.
On Thursday evening, former Phillies pitcher and Hall of Fame inductee Jayson Stark made it clear that re-upping Wheeler will be a top priority for the Phils once the dust settles on the MLB offseason. “The Phils are more invested in re-upping [Zack] than they were in Aaron [Nola],” Stark said. “I think it’s going to happen because of how much he loves Philly.”
Since signing a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phils before the 2020 season, the 25-year-old has been a model of consistency. He’s gone 43-25 in his time with the Phils, with an ERA of 3.06 and a FIP of 2.90. In fact, over the past four seasons, he’s only allowed six runs per nine innings, making him the fourth-best starting pitcher in the league in that span. By FanGraphs, his 19.3 win-plus-walk ratio leads all starters.
In addition to his strong performance in the regular season, the 26-year-old has been superb in two playoff appearances with the Phillies. In his first 11 career playoff starts, he is 2-0 with a 2.42ERA.
At the end of the year press conference, Dombrowski was asked by Phillies Nation about the team’s hopes for an extension with the right-handed pitcher.
“Without getting into specifics, because we haven’t had these conversations yet, we’d like to have Zack in our organization for many years to come,” Dombrowski began. “He’s been a tremendous asset to our organization since he’s been here and we view him as a true part of our family, so we’d like to keep him around for a long time.”
While the Phillies tried to sign Nola to a long-term deal last spring and ended up bringing him back in free agency with a seven-year, $172 million deal, there seems to be a more definite tone when it comes to talking about Wheeler. With Nola it really felt like he was a 50-50 bet to leave the Phils after 2023. Maybe it’s reading too much into a single quote, but the most well-funded teams in baseball don’t usually let someone they see as a “center of gravity” go in free agency.
Now that Aaron Nola is back but believes Zack Wheeler will start on opening day 2024, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the two sides will reach an agreement before then, but it certainly seems like that’s the hope.
While no formal offer has been made yet, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki wrote in late November that “the Phillies have indeed talked to Wheeler’s camp about a new deal.” Zolecki also added that “one is expected to be made at some point.”
Zolecki’s agent, Al Goetz, is represented by Jets Sports Management, is “hopeful” that the Phillies will make a formal offer to
From his point of view, there are advantages and disadvantages to signing a new deal before the opening day of the calendar year 2024.
On the one hand, there is the obvious benefit of setting your own market value. If the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher continues to produce as he has over the first four seasons of his Philadelphia tenure, he will be highly sought after on the free agent market next winter. A three-year, $130 million deal, similar to the one the Mets gave to Max Scherzer before the 2022 season, is likely to be a realistic option if he hits the open market next season.
However, at 34 years old in May, with more than 1,300 career innings and three Tommy John surgeries, there is a case to be made that if the Phillies offer him a long-term contract, he should take it, even though he will still earn more than $100 million through 2024.
While we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for the two of them, it’s clear they both have a lot to look forward to.
With the Phillies making deep playoff runs each of the last two seasons, the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher has lived up to the elite potential he flashed during his five seasons in Philadelphia.
He and his wife Dominique, who hails from New Jersey, were said to have been close when he signed with the Phillies in 2019. Since then, they’ve welcomed two children and announced during their 2023 playoff run that they’re expecting a third. It’s easy to see why they want to stay close to family.
