Phillies Resign Aaron Nola To 7-Year $172 Million Contract
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 23: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game Six of the Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
One big question mark hanging over the Phillies head this offseason has been answered already. Aaron Nola is back. The two sides agreed to a 7-year 172 million dollar deal, keeping Nola in Philadelphia until 2030. Jeff Passan was the first to report.
It continues a trend of the Phillies giving players more years for a lower AAV. They did the same thing to land both Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, and now they give Aaron Nola that 7th year to save per year on Aaron Nola.
Nola has been with the Phillies his whole career, and now it looks like he may be a Phillie for life. He will be with the Phillies until he is 37, barring a trade in the future. Nola has been the best homegrown Phillies pitcher since Cole Hamels. Has he at times had consistency issues? Yes. But when he is on, he looks like a Cy Young-caliber pitcher. And he pitched fantastically in 3 of his 4 postseason starts this season.
There was some talk he could get into the $200 million range. But the Phillies get him at a pretty fair price. He will average about $24.6 million a year, which would be the 10th highest among all starters next season. And you know by the end of the deal many more pitchers will have passed him. It’s a win-win for both sides with Aaron Nola getting the 7th year he wanted, and the Phillies keeping flexibility concerning the luxury tax.
What the Phillies’ next move will be remains to be seen. Earlier in the week it was reported the Phillies were among the top suitors for Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After getting Nola you would think that would be it for them in terms of the starting pitcher market. But a closer like Josh Hader would make a lot of sense as their next target. And with Dombrowski suggesting that Johan Rojas will start the season in the minors, another outfield bat is also a big need.
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Every Number The Phillies Have Retired, and 3 They Should
The Phillies have been around for a long time. They played their first season in 1883, making them one of the oldest franchises in the MLB. And they are the oldest team to keep one name in stay in one city. Other teams, like the Braves, are older than the Phillies but were not in Atlanta that whole time. Then you have the Reds, who have played in Cincinnati longer but used to go by different names.
Unfortunately, being around that long has not led to much winning. Apart from a period in the 80, the 2000’s, and now the 2020s, they have mostly been a bad baseball team. They have the most losses in MLB history, and just two World Series in about 140 seasons.
But that does not mean they have not had amazing players. Even when they were perennial losers, they had some true Hall of Fame Level players giving Philadelphians something to enjoy. 32 Phillies have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. They have inducted 47 players managers or broadcasters onto their Wall of Fame. But they, like every pro team, save a special honor for only the best players in team history. Retired numbers.
10 players, 9 of whom played for the Phillies, have their number retired with the team. Including guys who played in 1911, all the way through to someone who played their last MLB game in 2013. Which 10 players were so good they earned that honor? Let’s run through those names. And while we are at it, let’s look at 3 names who should go up on that wall and have their numbers retired soon.
Here are all 10 Numbers The Phillies Have Retired, and 3 More They Should Retire Soon:
Andrew Salciunas, “The Choonis,” has done it all at the station - screening calls, working events as a member of the street team, producing 7 days a week, doing updates, and now hosting his own show. Now with a wife and kid, his life experiences are far different than when he first started, but this “regular guy” knows how to relate to anyone. He writes about the Flyers, Phillies, Sixers, and Eagles.