After Bryce Harper agreed to a record-breaking 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday afternoon, new teammate Jake Arrieta took to social media to welcome Harper to the club in rather humorous fashion:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BucFApIgeDd/
Arrieta appears to be donning a Speedo as he sweeps the floor in what has to be one of the amazing introductory posts in the sporting world of social media.
The (soon to be) 33-year-old was Philadelphia's marquee signing in the 2017 offseason after a very successful three-year run with the Chicago Cubs that included winning the NL Cy Young in 2015.
Arrieta is known to be rather brash and outspoken on social media, calling for various of members to “head for the hills” following the 2016 presidential election and warning younger MLB players about the dangers of becoming a free agent in the modern game.
All of you 1-3 yr players out there better be paying attention to what’s going on in our game. You’re next. @MLB
— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) January 12, 2019
Last summer, Arrieta and agent Scott Boras had hoped to garner a long-term deal in free agency, but had to settle for three years and $75 million after the Cubs decided to sign Yu Darvish.
The former Cy Young winner posted his worst K/9 ratio since 2013 (7.2) in what was a tale of two seasons.
Arrieta pitched to a 3.23 ERA in the first half of 2018 despite posting just a 6.3 K/9. He certainly seemed due for regression, but a 5.04 ERA in 13 second-half starts could not have been what the Phillies expected.
Now equipped with a loaded lineup, the Phillies will hope that Arrieta–along with ace Aaron Nola and the rest of the pitching staff–can hold up his end of the bargain and help Philadelphia win the NL East.
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