Phillies

Zack Wheeler and Phillies Working on Contract Extension

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Feb 14th, 2024 · 2:02 PM EST

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Phillies pitchers and catchers reported Wednesday and we got this nugget:

Zack Wheeler says his agent and the Phillies are chatting about a contract extension. Zack says hopefully they can get a deal done before the season starts but if not he doesn’t seem concerned about negotiating during the season. Zack says he loves it here pic.twitter.com/CoROiLVoTW

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 14, 2024

This is good to hear. Wheeler never seemed like a flight risk, but it’s nice to know they’ve started talks. He’s is in the final year of a five-year deal that pays him about $23 million this season.

The question is what a new contract is going to look like. Aaron Nola, age 30, just got seven years and $172 million from the Phils in free agency. Wheeler turns 34 in May, and while his ERA was slightly up in 2023 he continues to post fantastic numbers across the board.

For some recent context, the following pitchers signed the following deals this offseason:

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25): twelve years, $325 million from the Dodgers
• Eduardo Rodriguez (30): four years, $80 million from the Diamondbacks
• Sonny Gray (34): three years, $75 million from the Cardinals
• Seth Lugo (34): three years, $45 million from the Royals
• Jordan Hicks (27): four years, $44 million from the Giants

The Yamamoto deal is obviously a total outlier for a much younger guy, but Wheeler is better than those other four pitchers. He’s going to be in the Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer bracket, something like a $30 to $40 million guy on a shorter deal. Think four years at $150 million or $160 million. Something like that. If they sign him to anything more than four years, he’s going to be 39 by the end of the contract.