Categories: Phillies Beat with Destiny Lugardo

Thank God Zack Wheeler is not a free agent

Zack Wheeler is a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award. (Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire)

The winner of this year’s National League Cy Young Award will be announced on Wednesday night. Zack Wheeler is a finalist, but he’s not expected to beat out the Braves’ Chris Sale for the award.

For Phillies fans, it’s frustrating to think that Wheeler, who has been one of the best starters in the league since signing with the Phillies in December 2019, may never win a Cy Young. But fans can also take comfort in knowing that Wheeler will get at least three more cracks at it while wearing a Phillies uniform.

The Phillies, with Wheeler scheduled to hit free agency after 2024, signed him to a three-year, $126 million contract in spring training. The average annual value, $42 million, is high, but it’s worth it if Wheeler continues to stay healthy and perform like an ace.

Wheeler at the time expressed interest in getting a deal done early. The Phillies worked quickly to sign him to a contract that works well for both sides. The team was fortunate that Wheeler wanted to avoid free agency, but they also deserve credit for getting the deal done.

The Phillies, unless they somehow sign Juan Soto, are unlikely to make a move this offseason as big as re-signing Wheeler. The fact that they got their biggest piece of business done seven months ago contributes to the weird feeling surrounding this offseason.

Much of the chatter pertaining to the Phillies has involved subtraction rather than addition. Each of the last six offseasons have revolved around one or two massive expenditures in free agency. It began with Bryce Harper in 2019, and continued after the 2023 season with new contracts for Wheeler and Nola. As our own Bailey Digh pointed out, the Phillies have signed at least one player to a nine-figure contract in each of the last six years.

With multiple big contracts on the books and the Phillies coming off an early postseason exit, the team has hinted at a desire to shake things up. Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Ranger Suárez have all had their names come up in trade rumors. They could be dealt to address other needs on the roster.

We’re probably not talking as much about a potential shake up if Wheeler decided to go to free agency for a second time. Instead, the Phillies would be bracing for life without their ace pitcher.

No doubt, the Phillies would have been the favorites to sign Wheeler if he were on the market. But it would not have been a slam dunk.

He would have reached free agency coming off a fully healthy season with 200 innings, a 2.57 ERA and a top three Cy Young finish. He probably would have eclipsed Corbin Burnes as the top pitcher on the market. Burnes, 30, will likely sign a more lucrative deal than Wheeler’s recent extension, but more teams would have been in on Wheeler than Burnes.

Wheeler, unlike Burnes, would not have been eligible to receive a qualifying offer after getting one from the Mets in 2019. That would have made him even more attractive to the luxury-tax paying big market teams in need of top tier starting pitching.

The cost of signing a qualified free agent for luxury tax payers is the team’s second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2026 Draft along with one million in international bonus pool money.

It’s a steep price to pay and teams like the Mets have gone out of their way to avoid all free agents with qualifying offers attached. New York will happily break that streak if they sign either Soto and Burnes, but Wheeler’s former club would have been at the forefront of the bidding. Whether Wheeler would have had interest in returning to an organization that disrespected him

when he left is another story.

The Dodgers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Braves, along with the Phillies and Mets, all made sense as potential suitors for Wheeler. Wheeler’s preferred contract structure, a higher AAV over a shorter commitment, also would have added to his appeal as a free agent.

This is to say that the bidding for Wheeler would have gotten ridiculous. Wheeler’s current deal is massive, but he probably left money on the table by taking the extension.

In the end, it wasn’t about the money for Wheeler. The Phillies are beyond fortunate that wasn’t the case.

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Destiny Lugardo

A lifelong native of Philadelphia, Destiny has been a contributor for Phillies Nation since January 2019 and was named Deputy Editorial Director in May 2020.