The Philadelphia Phillies have signed ace starter Aaron Nola to a four-year, $45 million extension with a club option for a fifth season per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Jeff Passan of ESPN further reports that the fifth year club option is worth $16 million.
The breakdown of Aaron Nola's deal with the Phillies:
$2M signing bonus
2019: $4M
2020: $8M
2021: $11.75M
2022: $15M
2023: $16M club option with $4.25M buyoutThe deal can cover two years of free agency for Nola if the Phillies exercise the option.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 13, 2019
Nola, 25, broke out in a big way in 2018, going 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA, 3.01 FIP, and 224 strikeouts across 212.1 innings. He put up Cy Young-caliber numbers and would have taken home the award if it weren’t for Max Scherzer (2nd) and Jacob deGrom (1st). After making his first All Star team, Nola also finished 13th in MVP voting (Scherzer finished 10th, deGrom 5th).
This deal comes one day after Jacob deGrom and his agent issued an ultimatum to Mets leadership saying he would not negotiate an extension during the season. That, as well as this move by the Phillies, could serve to light a fire under Brodie Van Wagenen to make an extension offer to deGrom.
