Phillies, Zack Wheeler agree to three-year, $126 million extension

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Within a three-day span, Zack Wheeler celebrated the birth of his third child and finalized a nine-figure contract extension with the Phillies.

How’s that for an epic week?

“It was definitely busy,” Wheeler said Monday in a news conference to announce a three-year deal that’s worth $126 million, according to financial terms confirmed to The Inquirer. “It’s just been a great week for me, a great week for my family. I just couldn’t be happier.”

» READ MORE: Owner John Middleton on Phillies’ huge offer to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, saving the ‘powder’ for July, and more

Wheeler agreed to the extension on Feb. 24, three days before his wife, Dominique, gave birth to their daughter, Winter. He finalized the deal Saturday after taking a physical and wanted to hold off on the announcement until Monday in order to tell his teammates.

The new contract begins next season and will keep Wheeler and Aaron Nola together atop the Phillies’ starting rotation through 2027, when Wheeler will be 37. The Phillies re-signed Nola as a free agent in November to a seven-year, $172 million contact. Wheeler could have been a free agent after this season.

Instead, Wheeler will receive the highest annual salary — $42 million — in Phillies history and the fourth-largest ever for a starting pitcher, trailing Shohei Ohtani ($70 million) and Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, both of whom make $43.3 million per year.

Wheeler didn’t ask for an opt-out and won’t receive a no-trade clause, but when he completes this season, he will have 10 years in the majors and five with the Phillies, a combination that would enable him to veto a trade — not that the team has any notion of moving him.

In fact, owner John Middleton said he can’t imagine the roster without Wheeler.

“Who are you going to pitch?” Middleton said. “Even if [top prospect] Andrew Painter were [eventually] the MVP of the league and a Cy Young winner, you still want Zack Wheeler on the mound. That doesn’t change.”

As president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski put it, “Zack is one of the best pitchers in the game of baseball. I don’t think I could think of another individual I’d rather have take the ball in a big game than Zack.”

» READ MORE: Zack Wheeler arrives at camp with a new wrinkle and another reason he’s worth the Phillies’ investment

Wheeler signed with the Phillies in the 2019-20 offseason and has been among the best free-agent additions in franchise history. He has a 3.06 ERA in 101 starts over the last four seasons and leads all pitchers with 19.6 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.

In the postseason, Wheeler has been even better, with a 2.42 ERA in 11 appearances. He has completed six innings and allowed fewer than three runs in eight of 10 postseason starts.

Wheeler has also gotten better and stayed healthier with age. He dealt with injuries, including Tommy John elbow surgery, early in his career with the Mets. From ages 27 to 29, he posted a 3.94 ERA in 464 innings and a league-average ERA-plus; from ages 31 to 33, he had a 3.08 ERA in 558 innings and was 35% better than league average.

“It’s being consistent every time out,” said Wheeler, who singled out pitching coach Caleb Cotham and head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit for his success with the Phillies. “I haven’t always had that consistency, whether it be command-wise or inning-to-inning, game-to-game. I feel like I’m in the right spot right now. I’m able to go out there and just do well every time.”

Although Wheeler’s contract doesn’t impact the Phillies’ 2024 payroll, which is projected to exceed the second tier of the luxury-tax threshold ($257 million), it will hike their 2025 commitments to $207.125 million for nine players (Wheeler, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Nola, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Taijuan Walker, and José Alvarado). They also hold $8 million club options on both Whit Merrifield ($1 million buyout) and Seranthony Domínguez ($500,000 buyout).

The Phillies had never before paid a player more than $30 million per year. Wheeler’s salary will be $15 million more than Turner’s previous club record of $27.27 million, as calculated for the luxury tax.

But Middleton said he doesn’t expect Wheeler’s contract will prevent other big-ticket roster additions in the next few years.

“I think there’s a way to do it if it becomes a necessity,” Middleton said. “But maybe the star that we add is Painter or [pitching prospect Mick] Abel. Or [Johan] Rojas gets comfortable at the plate and he’s starting to hit .285 to .300 with his defense and he’s a star. And [Brandon] Marsh could be a star. [Bryson] Stott, I think, already is a star. That’s what you need.”

» READ MORE: Pitching prospect Griff McGarry hit rock bottom on the mound. But the Phillies think it can be a catalyst for change.

Last month, Wheeler stated his desire to remain with the Phillies and get paid market value. But he also turned down more money from the White Sox to come to Philadelphia in the first place, a decision he said a few weeks ago that he did not regret.

This time, Wheeler cared more about the length of the contract. More specifically, he was interested in only two or three years, rather than five or six. He will turn 34 at the end of June and doesn’t have an itch to pitch into his 40s, à la Verlander and Scherzer.

“I do enjoy pitching and I want to be here, I love competing,” Wheeler said. “But I don’t want to play until I’m ‘old, old.’ I want to be around my family. But I’m definitely enjoying the moment here and enjoying every moment I take the mound. It’s special. Not everybody gets to do it as long as I have so far. I’m grateful for that.”