Philadelphia Phillies and Zack Wheeler reach a three-year, $126 million deal agreement.
Zack Wheeler deserves to get paid again. Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies reached a three-year contract deal on Monday. Don Bell of CBS Philadelphia was informed by a source that Wheeler’s contract is for $126 million. Wheeler remarked, “I’ve really just enjoyed being here in Philly.” “Best of all are the fans. Nothing compares to playing in Citizens Bank (Park) in October.” With his contract extension, Wheeler will have the highest-ever annual average value for a Phillie—$42 million. Additionally, it’s the biggest AAV in a contract renewal ever. Behind Shohei Ohtani’s $46 million, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander, who all inked $43.3 million AAV contracts with the New York Mets, the starters at $42 million AAV is the fourth highest in MLB. Scherzercherzer and Verlander have since both been traded to Texas and Houston, respectively. Wheeling and dealing Wheeler, who will turn 34 in May, has been one of baseball’s best starters he signed a five-year, $118 million contract with the Phillies as a free agent in 2019. The righty has the best Wins Above Replacement (WAR) among starters in baseball since joining the Phils in 2019, according to Baseball-Reference. “Let’s establish right now, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said. “Is he first, second, third? We don’t have to get into that. But he’s one of the best. And the reality is, when you start not only talking about being one of the best pitchers, he’s one of the best big-game pitchers in the game of baseball. In the postseason when he takes that ball, I can’t think of anybody I’d rather have take the ball than Zack.” According to FanGraphs’ WAR to Dollars formula, Wheeler has outperformed his contract by $36.1 million – the popular baseball statistics website calculates Wheeler as having earned $154.1 million in four seasons with the Phillies. On Feb. 14, Wheeler told reporters he took less money to sign in Philadelphia in 2019 and wants to be paid “what I feel like I’ve earned.” “I want to be paid on how I’ve done, what they expect out of me,” he said. “It’s not all about the money to me. I took less to come here and be in a good spot, be happy.” In four seasons with the Phillies, Wheeler has earned Cy Young votes in three of them – he was the runner-up in 2021 to Corbin Burnes. Last season, Wheeler finished sixth in National League Cy Young Award voting after posting a 3.61 ERA in 192.0 innings. He also won his first Gold Glove. Wheeler came to the Phillies with an injury history, but he’s been able to change the script. He’s been a reliable starter and an innings-eater. He’s thrown the fourth-most innings in MLB since 2020 with 629⅓ – Aaron Nola is third with 650⅔ innings. While his velocity has dipped over the last couple of seasons, Wheeler has adjusted to use more offspeed pitches to maintain the edge. In the playoffs, Wheeler has elevated to another level over the past two postseasons – he has a 2.42 ERA in 63⅓ playoff innings since 2022. With Wheeler locked up and Nola signed for the next seven seasons, the Phillies have the top of their rotation set for the foreseeable future, with top pitching prospect Andrew Painter lurking in 2025. Painter is recovering from Tommy John surgery. More from CBS News Phillies reinstate Harper from paternity list, option Clemens to AAA Bryce Harper homers in return from daughter’s birth as Phillies beat Reds Jordan Mailata, Brandon Graham to announce Eagles’ NFL draft picks Athletes of all ages performed in Philadelphia on Day 1 of the Penn Relays In: MLB Philadelphia Phillies Baseball Philadelphia Zack Wheeler Tom Dougherty Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS News Philadelphia, Tom covered the NHL and college sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He covers breaking news and sports. Twitter.
