Phillies rumors: Team engaged in contract talks with Jake Arrieta
By John Town
There is finally some legitimacy to the Phillies-Jake Arrieta rumors as the two sides are currently discussing a contract.
The Phillies entered spring training with their rotation largely unchanged compared to last year, much to the dismay of the fans. However, it appears they are finally trying to add to their starting rotation with one of the biggest names on the market.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the team is engaged in “dialogue” with Arrieta about a contract.
Phillies and Jake Arrieta are having dialogue. Phils people (MacPhail, Klentak, Jordan, etc.) love him from their days in Baltimore together. Phils would prefer shorter term tho, so there’s a gap.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 20, 2018
Arrieta has been linked to Philadelphia all offseason, but this is the first time there has been anything substantive between the two sides. This may be the beginning of more between the club and Arrieta, perhaps eventually ending in a contract.
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However, as Heyman mentioned, an eventual deal isn’t as close as one would think. Arrieta likely still prefers a long-term deal, which is the exact opposite of what the Phils want to hand out. Arrieta likely wants something similar to Yu Darvish’s six-year, $126 million contract that he signed with the Cubs earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Phils are very hesitant to hand out a deal longer than three years to a starter on the wrong side of 30.
Arrieta is coming off a rather disappointing season for the former Cy Young winner. In 30 starts, he had a 3.53 ERA, 4.16 fielding-independent pitching, and 2.96 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Those numbers are still great, but he was still only worth about $20 million according to Fangraphs.
However, Arrieta had a tremendous second half. In 67 innings post All-Star Break, he had a 2.28 ERA, 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.09 WHIP. He left a start early at the beginning of September and the Cubs took it easy bringing him back for the playoffs.
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Arrieta gave up just one run in each of his playoff starts last year, but he walked 10 batters in 10.2 innings. He was the winning pitcher in Chicago’s only win in the National League Championship Series.
Signing Arrieta would bring a much-needed boost to Philadelphia’s starting rotation. It would remove some of the uncertainty currently there, allowing the team not to fully rely on five guys still early on in their careers. Arrieta would spearhead the rotation with Aaron Nola, backed up by Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, and one of the many youngsters pushing for the last spot in the rotation.
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Ultimately, signing Arrieta will come down to reconciling the difference in term the two sides want. If the Phils can convince Arrieta to sign a shorter-term deal with a higher annual average value, it would do wonders to improve their rotation.