Zack Wheeler has agreed to a three-year extension with the Philadelphia Phillies that begins in 2025 and extends through the 2027 season, the team said Monday, eliminating the threat of the ace pitcher becoming a free agency in the autumn.
The transaction is valued $126 million, according to sources.
“I’ve really just enjoyed being here in Philly,” Wheeler remarked Monday. “Our fans are the best. Nothing compares to playing at Citizens Bank in October.”
Wheeler, who is in the final season of a five-year, $118 million contract, has had excellent success with the Phillies, a team that has spent large money on talent in recent years (including Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Aaron Nola). This spring, there was speculation that the right-hander and the team would strike a new agreement.
“I was happy he got over the 40 million mark because he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball the last couple of years,” Harper told reporters on Monday. “So, he definitely deserves it, man.”
Wheeler’s contract does not have a formal no-trade clause, but he will shortly acquire 10-and-5 rights, which means he will have more than 10 years of service time and the ability to veto any move after his fifth season with the Phillies ends.
“I think it works out for me, I think it works out for the team,” Wheeler remarked at the time. “I’d rather have it now than go to free agency and see what happens.”
The Phillies are unlikely to trade Wheeler, who has a 3.06 ERA, 137 adjusted ERA+, and 675 strikeouts in 629⅓ innings. Wheeler led the major leagues in innings pitched (213⅓) in 2021 and received a Gold Glove Award last season.
Early in Wheeler’s stint with the Phillies, owner John Middleton denied that the team would ever contemplate trading the right-hander, saying he would not trade him for Babe Ruth or Ted Williams. The front of the Phillies’ rotation appears set for years to come, with Wheeler and Nola already under long-term contracts and Ranger Suarez blossoming as a high-end No. 3 starter.
Wheeler, 33, was the sixth overall choice in the 2009 draft by the San Francisco Giants, and as he rose through the ranks of the game’s top prospects, other teams expressed interest in him. In 2011, the Giants traded him to the Mets in exchange for Carlos Beltran, as they attempted to reach the postseason.
Wheeler pitched with the Mets for five seasons, missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to an elbow ligament tear and reconstruction.
