Phillies Re-signs $900 Milli0n All-Star Player ‘No. 1 priority’ for rest of offseason…

After missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Philadelphia Phillies are concentrating on holding onto what they already have.

Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies’ top priority for the remainder of the offseason is to re-sign pitcher Zack Wheeler to a long-term contract. Wheeler signed a five-year, $118 million contract before the 2020 season, and he is now in the final season of that deal.

Wheeler has exceeded the Phillies’ expectations in every way. His record since coming to Philadelphia is 43-25 with a 3.06 ERA. Having made 11 appearances in the postseason, he has a 2.42 ERA and has been outstanding there as well.

Even though the Phillies have been linked to major players like Yamamoto, their main goal during the offseason has been to maintain the current roster. Since they have already taken steps to keep Aaron Nola on staff, the pitching staff in 2024 will appear fairly familiar.

READ MORE:

The Philadelphia Phillies achieved their primary offseason objective when they re-signed Aaron Nola, their ace, to a long-term deal worth $172 million and seven years.

There were rumors that the elite right-hander would leave the Phillies in free agency. Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, repeated that idea several times as well.

In the end, they managed to retain Nola and position him at the head of their rotation going forward.

On the list of things to do, there is now another priority.

Zack Wheeler is scheduled to hit free agency following the 2024 season and Philadelphia would like to extend him before he ever hits the open market.

While they were able to get Nola back, they might not be so lucky with Wheeler, who has not had up-and-down performances in a Phillies uniform like Nola had.

So, with that in mind, where does Philadelphia stand on getting that extension done?

Well, it doesn’t seem like much has happened on that front according to Dombrowski.

There’s more questions than answers that came out of that statement from the Phillies’ boss.

Based on that, it doesn’t seem like an offer has been made and the timeline to do so is unknown. Dombrowski also makes it seem like Wheeler and his agent are willing to test free agency after the season.

That should be something that Philadelphia avoids at all costs.

Given what Wheeler has accomplished for the Phillies during his time there, his current five-year, $118 million contract may be considered one of the best free agent signings in history.

With a minimum of 10 starts, the star righty’s 2.42 ERA in the playoffs is the sixth-best in MLB history, and his 19.3 fWAR over the last four seasons is the best in the league among pitchers.

As they pursue World Series titles, it appears that the organization would like to keep Wheeler and Nola together for many years to come.

While Dombrowski spends the remainder of the winter making sure Wheeler doesn’t hit the open market, he should begin focusing on extension negotiations this offseason.