Are Phillies Avoiding Extending Their Ace
With the Philadelphia Phillies re-signing Aaron Nola to a seven-year deal this offseason, many assumed that was the first step in making sure he and Zack Wheeler are paired together for years to come. Wheeler is hitting free agency following 2024 and is expected to have more suitors than Nola had because of his consistency the past few years. The Phillies would like to avoid that and get him locked into a contract extension. Or would they?
Interesting moves and rumors have surrounded Philadelphia this offseason, with the most notable one involving their pursuit of Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After failing to land him, the expectation was they would focus on making other low-level additions to their roster and prioritize working with Wheeler to get him extended. But, a report then surfaced that the Phillies are interested in free agent starters Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. The only reason why they would pursue these two is if they aren’t confident Wheeler will sign an extension, or if they’re not ready to offer him a long-term contract.
After all, he’ll be 35 years old in 2025, an age where pitchers begin to see their production falter. For the amount of money he’ll be looking for as well, it might not be the best decision for Philadelphia to offer a sizeable contract, no matter how elite he’s been recently. These reports might not culminate in them making any additions to their
starting rotation, but it’s definitely notable. The Phillies are already on the hook for their highest payroll ever next season and will have tons of money being shelled out for the foreseeable future, but this does suggest that they might not be as keen to sign Wheeler as it was previously believed.
