In losing Ranger Suarez this past offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies lost one of their best pitchers. Even for a team as resource-rich as the Phillies, it just isn't feasible to keep every good player around. Ultimately, Philly opted to keep Aaron Nola, for better or worse, and to re-sign Kyle Schwarber, and that left Suarez on the outside looking in. However, it looks like the Phillies had no interest in having budding ace Cristopher Sanchez suffer the same fate.
Sanchez was a revelation in 2025. After a couple of seasons of being very solid with moments of brilliance, Sanchez broke out last season with a 2.50 ERA across 202 innings en route to a second-place finish in the NL Cy Young race. Amongst all pitchers in baseball last year, Sanchez ranked third by fWAR at 6.4 as his ability to pound the strike zone, and hitters having few answers was on full display.
That is certainly the kind of guy you want to keep around, especially with Nola and Zack Wheeler on the back side of their careers and Suarez now gone. However, no one realistically thought an extension for Sanchez was coming, as he was already under team control through 2030 with his previous deal. However, that didn't stop the Phillies from giving Sanchez a six-year deal that guarantees him at least $107 million.
Phillies have ripped up Cristopher Sánchez’s contract and agreed to a new six-year deal from 2027 to 2032 with a club option for 2033. More to come.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) March 22, 2026
Phillies bucked recent trends with renegotiated deal and extension given to Cristopher Sanchez
Again, Sanchez's previous deal that he just signed before the 2024 season was extremely team-friendly and included a pair of reasonable club options for 2029 and 2030. The Phillies, in theory, had no short-term urgency to change the terms of that deal and were actually heavily incentivized to keep Sanchez's deal in place and use the savings elsewhere.
However, that is a somewhat short-sighted view. We know that Nola's time is running out, and it could be coming soon if last season was any indication. Wheeler is one of the best pitchers in baseball when he is right, but he is also recovering from thoracic outlet surgery and had previously hinted that he could retire in the next few years. The Phillies are simply getting old on both sides of the ball, and they need to start planning for life after some of their household names fade away.
In extending Sanchez, the Phillies get up to three more years of control over him, and they hopefully forge a stronger partnership with him. You can't keep everyone happy, but keeping the starter who can put the team on his back when needed happy has a ton of value. Philly did have to fork over some more cash, but that seems like a small price to pay for future peace of mind.