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Phillies Focused on Re-signing All-Star pitcher who decided to join his Former Teammates
The Philadelphia Phillies missed out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and are moving on to focus on keeping what they have.
The Phillies’ No. 1 priority for the remainder of the offseason is to re-sign pitcher Zack Wheeler to a new long-term deal, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Wheeler is entering the final season of a five-year, $118 million contract he signed prior to the 2020 season.
Wheeler has been everything the Phillies would have hoped for and then some. Since joining Philadelphia, he has gone 43-25 with a 3.06 ERA. He has been tremendous in the playoffs as well, with a 2.42 ERA in 11 total appearances.
While the Phillies have been linked to some big players like Yamamoto, their offseason has ultimately consisted of keeping their current team together. They already made sure to retain Aaron Nola, ensuring that the pitching staff will look quite familiar in 2024.
After missing out on free agent starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Philadelphia Phillies are trying to extend right-hander Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler is 33 years old, so it’s not known how long a deal he could get, but it would seem like the team would need to give him a three or four-year deal at least to get him to forego free agency.
The veteran has appeared in major league games during nine different seasons. He made his major league debut in 2013 with the New York Mets and then pitched in 2014 before missing all of 2015 and 2016 with injury.
He signed a deal with the Phillies before the COVID 2020 season and helped the Phillies reach the World Series in 2022.
He’s won double-digit games in six different seasons, including going 13-6 this past season. Lifetime, he’s 87-63 with a 3.45 ERA. He made the All-Star team during the 2021 season.
It’s unknown how much money the Phillies have left in the budget. They already have Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Aaron Nola, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos locked up long-term. The team also would like to renegotiate Harper’s deal potentially.
Philadelphia reached the NLCS this past year.
