Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, one of the most reliable regular season and playoff performers from the mound the league has seen in recent years, has agreed to extend his stay in the City of Brotherly Love.
He was set to hit the free agent market after the 2024 campaign, but the Phillies moved quickly and secured his services with a shocking deal.
“Breaking: Zack Wheeler reached an agreement on a three-year, $126 million extension with the Philadelphia Phillies, sources told @Buster_ESPN. With an annual salary of $42 million, Wheeler’s deal is the most lucrative extension in baseball history in terms of yearly value,” ESPN tweeted.
Breaking: Zack Wheeler reached an agreement on a three-year, $126 million extension with the Philadelphia Phillies, sources told @Buster_ESPN.
With an annual salary of $42 million, Wheeler’s deal is the most lucrative extension in baseball history in terms of yearly value. pic.twitter.com/GJrU8c3Ind
— ESPN (@espn) March 4, 2024
As ESPN notes, Wheeler just got the highest AAV (average annual value) in an extension: both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander signed for a bit over $43 million annually, but those were open-market deals and not extensions.
Wheeler was one of the main reasons the Phillies made the World Series in 2022 and the National League Championship Series in 2023.
Last year, he posted a solid 3.61 ERA in 192 frames; and the year before, he finished with a 2.82 ERA.
Between 2022 and 2023, he posted an incredible 2.42 ERA in October with the Phils, in 63.1 frames.
If anything, Wheeler’s extension thins next offseason’s free-agent market for pitchers.
The Phillies, however, don’t mind weakening the opposition by locking up one of the most reliable hurlers in MLB for the next three seasons.
Yes, they paid a lot, but chances are Wheeler would have done just as well in the open market; and they don’t have to pay him for a long time.
With the right-hander ready to keep dominating for the next three years, the Phillies make it clear that their contention window is very much still in place.
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