Dave Dombrowski indicated Saturday morning that it’s not likely the Phillies will sign Aaron Nola to a contract extension before Opening Day. The two sides have broken off talks.
“We think the world of him,” Dombrowski told Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Quality pitcher, quality human being, but sometimes you get to this point where you’re not able to consummate a deal that both sides feel comfortable.”
Nola will make his final Grapefruit League start Saturday against the Yankees. He will start his sixth-consecutive Opening Day for the Phillies on Thursday against the Rangers.
Nola, 29, will play this season on a $16 million club option. He signed a 4-year, $45 million extension with the team before the 2019 season, his first season of arbitration eligibility.
In a statement to the Inquirer, Nola’s agent Joe Longo said the two sides will pick up extension talks at the end of the season.
Dombrowski reiterated that the team wants to re-sign Nola to a long-term deal that keeps him in red pinstripes for a long time.
Outside of two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, Nola will likely enter the free agent market as the best pitcher available. By not signing him to an extension, the Phillies do risk the possibility of another team making him an offer he can’t refuse.
The Padres, for example, offered both Trea Turner and Aaron Judge significantly more money than what they ended up signing for. Instead, they signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million, much more than anyone expected the 30-year-old to get.
Nola has previously expressed interest in playing with his brother, Padres starting catcher Austin Nola.
In his eighth season with the Phillies, Nola went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA across 205 regular season innings in 2022. He finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting and pitched in the postseason for the first time in his career.
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