Phillies

Report: Phillies Have Signed Jake Arrieta to Three-Year Deal

By Bob Wankel

Published: Mar 11th, 2018 · 5:11 PM EDT

---

Earlier today, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the Phillies were the favorite for free agent pitcher Jake Arrieta. Good call, Bob.

According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Phillies were on the verge of signing the 2015 Cy Young Award winner:

Breaking: Phillies are moving close to a deal with Jake Arrieta

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 11, 2018

As I work on this story, it appears it’s now official. Nightengale reports it’s a three-year deal worth $75 million:

Jake Arrieta gets $75 million over 3 years

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 11, 2018

Imagine correctly speculating the financial terms three hours ago. Get some:

I also wonder if the Lynn deal changes he optics of what at one point would’ve seemed like a light contract for Arrieta. For instance, 3/75 seemed light. Now? Not so bad…

— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) March 11, 2018

Ignore that I spelled “the” incorrectly. Doesn’t even matter. Minor detail. Crushed it. Also, Matt Klentak, you beautiful son of a bitch. You dog, you. I knew you had it in you. Swing it around like a windmill, Howie-style. I want to give you a noogie.

A day after Lance Lynn signed with the Twins for a modest one-year deal worth $12 million, now comes the news that the market’s prized free agent starting pitcher is headed to Philadelphia to help make baseball relevant in this city once again.

Arrieta’s performance has declined over the past two years, but he was still productive in 2017, posting a 14-10 record with a 3.53 ERA and 163 strikeouts over 168.1 innings.

Arrieta solidifies a rotation in desperate need of a top arm to pair with Aaron Nola. His production, big game experience and highly regarded work ethic should prove beneficial to a young rotation and could push the Phillies into playoff contention in a top-heavy National League that is wide open beyond Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The best part? The move doesn’t preclude the Phillies from future action. It’s irrelevant. They have a shit load of cash to spend when 2019’s much anticipated free agency class rolls around. I feel, I don’t know, strong. Let us go forth and do wild card things. Baseball is BACK!

So bold.