On Monday, the Phillies officially welcomed free agent starting pitcher Zack Wheeler into the fold as the team’s No. 2 starter, likely the biggest free agent the Phils will sign this off-season.
No doubt the rotation is better with Wheeler in it, and it’s clear the Phillies were never going to give Stephen Strasburg the seven-year, $245 million contract he received from the Washington Nationals, and Gerrit Cole is going to be a Yankee or an Angel and could eclipse eight years and $300 million. Unless John Middleton was prepared to go into heavy tax penalty territory, deals for those guys were never going to happen, either.