The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated the new contract with their homegrown ace this past Monday. Aaron Nola’s winning bid in the free agency market was seven years and $172 million.
It doesn’t seem likely that the 30-year-old righty would rejoin the Phillies, though, as it seems that two other National League contenders have serious interest in Nola.
According to Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the division-rival Atlanta Braves opened free agency by offering Nola a six-year/$162 million deal. That offer alone carries a $27 million average annual value, which would have easily been the highest AAV among a Braves team where president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has a reputation for getting homegrown players to take team-friendly extensions.
Lauber notes that this wasn’t a take-it-or-leave-it offer from the Braves, meaning they likely offered even more total money than $162 million. It’s unclear if the Braves — in desperate need of reliable starting pitching — would have gone to a seventh year to sign Nola.
Additionally, Lauber reports that the Dodgers “put a finger on the scale at $165 million.” Whether that was a six or seven-year offer isn’t known, but it hardly seems to be a team just doing their due diligence.
Even coming off of a 100-win season, the Dodgers need to add multiple starting pitchers. Sure, two-time All-Star Walker Buehler will be back after his second career Tommy John surgery forced him to miss the entire 2023 season. But Tony Gonsolin will likely miss the 2024 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery himself. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw is a free agent, and while he may very well return to the Dodgers, shoulder surgery will almost certainly prevent him from being ready to begin next season. Julio Urías is a free agent, and after his second domestic violence arrest, his MLB career may be over.
Still, even with at least two other World Series contenders in on him, it appears that Nola and his wife Hunter, expecting their first child, valued the familiarity of Philadelphia when making their decision.
“I’d always dreamed of being a Phillie. I am a lifelong Phillie. We kind of exclusively have our sights set on this location,” Nola remarked on Monday. “For me, this is the most comfortable spot. As I previously stated, everyone in this group is really talented and highly dedicated to the athletes’ success. The connections I’ve formed will endure a lifetime. It seems like it would be difficult to leave those people behind. Of course, I’m also really happy to be back.
