Report: Phillies talking with Arrieta
The Philadelphia Phillies made a splash early on in free agency, signing Carlos Santana to a three-year, $60-million deal in December, and they're now said to be making headway toward another major addition.
The Phillies are reportedly having dialogue with free-agent right-hander Jake Arrieta, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. General manager Matt Klentak and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, both of whom worked in the Orioles' front office during Arrieta's four-year stint with the club, are said to be enamored with the 31-year-old.
Finding a mutually agreeable contract may be difficult, though. Earlier this offseason, one MLB executive suggested Arrieta's agent, Scott Boras, was looking to land his client a long-term deal worth $200 million. The Phillies, however, prefer a shorter-team contract. Arrieta, who reportedly had offers on the table from six teams in January, is attached to draft-pick compensation, having turned down a one-year, $17.4-million qualifying offer from the Chicago Cubs.
Last year, after taking home the National League Cy Young Award in 2015 and earning his first career All-Star nomination the following season, Arrieta took a step backward, posting a 3.53 ERA (123 ERA+) with a 1.22 WHIP over 168 1/3 innings. Many of his underlying stats regressed, too, as Arrieta's swinging-strike rate (8.7 percent), hard-contact rate (29.4 percent), ground-ball rate (45.1 percent), and average exit velocity (87.3 mph) all slipped in 2017. He also missed time with a hamstring injury late in the season. Among qualified starters, Arrieta's 2.4 WAR ranked 36th, behind the likes of Marco Estrada and Kevin Gausman.
Still, over the last four seasons, Arrieta has been one of the game's most valuable starters, crafting a 2.67 ERA (150 ERA+) over an average of 188 innings per year and accruing more WAR throughout that span than every pitcher except Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, and Max Scherzer.
Mired in a rebuild for the last several seasons, the Phillies - who finished last in the National League East in 2017 at 66-96 - are projected to win 74 games this year.