The Philadelphia Phillies have added an ace.
Zach Wheeler and the Phillies have agreed to a three-year, $126 million contract extension, the Post’s Jon Heyman has confirmed, meaning the 33-year-old pitcher will not become a free agent in the fall.
The extension begins in the 2025 season, so Wheeler will become a free agent after the 2027 season.
“This is a first-class organization and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Wheeler said at a news conference Monday. According to the Philadelphia Baseball Review.
With an average annual salary of $42 million, Wheeler’s contract is the richest contract extension in MLB history.
The richest contract ever signed by a pitcher is also right around the corner.
Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander signed contracts with the Mets for an AAV of $43.3 million.
Wheeler is in the final year of a five-year, $118 million contract, with extensions that sign star teammates Bryce Harper and Trea Turner through 2031 and 2033, respectively.
The Phillies have advanced to the World Series and NLCS the past two seasons, and are on the verge of winning the franchise’s first championship since 2008.
The contract does not include a formal no-trade clause, but since Wheeler has been in MLB for over 10 years, he will play his fifth season in Philadelphia and will have the right to veto any trades with the rights of 10 and 5. be able to exercise.
During his four years as a member of the Phillies after the Mets failed to re-sign him, he started 101 games, pitched 629 1/3 innings, had 675 strikeouts, and had a 3.06 ERA. was recorded.
He was named an All-Star in 2021 and won a Gold Glove Award last season.
The front line of the Phillies’ rotation has seemed set in stone for years, with Wheeler and Aaron Nola, who signed seven-year, $172 million deals in November, now on long-term deals, and the Rangers. Suarez is firmly established as the undisputed number three.
“When he takes that ball in the postseason, I can’t think of a player I’d want more to be there than Zach,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said Monday.
Wheeler was drafted sixth overall by the San Francisco Giants in 2009.
In 2011, he was traded to the Mets for Carlos Beltran.
He spent seven years with the Mets, but pitched for only five seasons, missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
