Zack Wheeler, Phillies agree to 3-year, $126 million contract extension: Sources

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When Zack Wheeler first joined the Phillies, he sat within the membership degree at Residents Financial institution Park and declared his intentions. “I wish to pitch on the high tier,” he stated in December 2019. He had by no means acquired a Cy Younger Award vote. He was not thought-about an ace.

Now, he’s within the higher echelon of pitchers within the sport, and he has a contract extension to mirror that. Wheeler and the Phillies agreed Monday morning to a three-year, $126 million deal, major-league sources instructed The Athletic, that may forestall him from turning into a free agent after the 2024 season.

Wheeler’s annual wage would be the highest ever for a Phillies participant and the fourth-highest common annual worth for any participant ever.

The Wheeler extension will start in 2025. Wheeler has yet one more season remaining on his unique five-year, $118 million deal that’s arguably among the finest free-agent contracts for a pitcher in current historical past. It was, on the time, a dangerous deal for a pitcher who had but to show he was a constant pressure.

However Wheeler has left little doubt since arriving in Philadelphia.

His 3.06 ERA with the Phillies ranks ninth amongst starters with at the very least 350 innings pitched since 2020. Solely three pitchers — Gerrit Cole, Sandy Alcantara and Aaron Nola — have logged extra innings than Wheeler prior to now 4 seasons. No pitcher has accrued extra WAR, primarily based on FanGraphs’ model of the metric, than Wheeler throughout that span.

In extending Wheeler, the Phillies are betting on a pitcher who hasn’t logged as many miles as the standard top-of-the-rotation starter his age. Wheeler, who will flip 34 in Might, missed vital time earlier in his profession with the Mets due to accidents. He has accrued 1,378 2/3 innings within the majors. By comparability, Cole Hamels had 2,362 innings by way of his age-33 season. Roy Halladay had logged 2,297 innings.

Wheeler’s $42 million common annual wage in the course of the extension is surpassed solely by Shohei Ohtani ($46.1 million), Max Scherzer ($43.3 million) and Justin Verlander ($43.3 million). Mixed with the cash remaining on the ultimate yr of Wheeler’s present deal, the Phillies pays him $149.5 million over the subsequent 4 seasons. (That may be a $37.4 million annual common, coincidentally a tick above Wheeler’s good friend and former teammate Jacob deGrom’s $37 million wage with the Texas Rangers.)

Wheeler, in response to major-league sources, could not wish to pitch past this new contract. Either side have been amenable to a shorter-term deal. The Phillies have now locked their two finest starters, Wheeler and Nola, into the rotation for the foreseeable future. They signed Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract in the beginning of the offseason.

Wheeler has made 101 begins for the Phillies. If wholesome in 2024, he’ll cross Halladay and Cliff Lee in video games began as a Phillie.

And, if he continues on his present trajectory, Wheeler will probably be remembered as one of many membership’s best acquisitions because the inception of free company.