Aaron Nola. Photo via USA Today Sports
Major League Baseball’s free agency is officially underway, and the Philadelphia Phillies have wasted no time opening up their checkbooks. Bob Nightingale of USA Today reported Sunday morning that the organization had come to an agreement with right-handed starting pitcher Aaron Nola, signing him to a seven-year, $172 million deal. According to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, there are no opt-outs in Nola’s new deal.
Nola, a one-time All-Star back in 2018, remains with the team that drafted him out of Louisiana State University with the seventh-overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft.
It was believed that teams like the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals were expected to have interest in Nola, but now they will be forced to look elsewhere in the market for starting pitching. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Braves were a major threat to land the starter, but once the Phillies decided to offer him their biggest contract for a pitcher ever, the negotiations were only going to finish with him returning to Philadelphia.
His deal has set the pitching market for this winter, which will benefit the likes of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, among others.
Nola was far from his best throughout the regular season, going 12-9 with a 4.46 ERA in 193 2/3 innings. But to his credit, he has made 32 starts or more in five straight 162-game seasons. His ability to pitch every fifth day does not go unnoticed, which is one of biggest reasons why the team was so adamant to bring him back.
The Phillies have more work to do, particularly in the bullpen, but this was a great start to their offseason. Zack Wheeler, who is signed through the 2024 season, is in line for an extension. It will be interesting to see if that is something Philadelphia addresses before spring training comes around.
