The Philadelphia Phillies were one of the teams in on Yoshinobu Yamamoto before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and like the other teams in the running for his services, they are quickly going to have to pivot and and turn their attention elsewhere. While other teams are looking at other free agents, the Phillies have turned their attention to one of their own guys in Zack Wheeler.
Philadelphia already pulled off a big move by re-signing Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract early in free agency, meaning one of the most deadly starting duos in the league will remain intact for at least one more season. Wheeler is in the final year of his contract, though, and it sounds like the Phillies would like to extend his deal sooner rather than later.
“Besides relatively modest upgrades, sources said the No. 1 priority is signing ace Zack Wheeler to a contract extension. It is something they always planned to pursue, even if they got lucky enough to sign Yamamoto. Wheeler is eligible to become a free agent following next season.” – Todd Zolecki, MLB.com
Phillies need to do whatever they can to extend Zack Wheeler
Wheeler has turned himself into an absolute force with the Phillies, and he was lights out again in 2023 (13-6, 3.61 ERA, 212 K, 1.08 WHIP). Pairing him up with Nola gives Philadelphia a lethal one-two punch atop their starting rotation, and they have been totally dominant in the playoffs over the past two years.
Wheeler will turn 34 in May, so he won't be commanding a super lengthy extension, but considering how good he has been of late, the money is going to be pretty big in that deal. It's a price Philadelphia should be more than willing to pay given how close they have come to winning a title with him leading their rotation, and it will be interesting to see if they can hammer out a deal at some point this offseason.
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