Much to the chagrin of some, Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak sat in a staredown with Scott Boras into Spring Training regarding one of Boras’ top clients, Jake Arrieta.
The Phillies and Arrieta had the feel of an arranged marriage. Despite having won a National League Cy Young Award and World Series while with the Chicago Cubs, it was evident that the Cubs didn’t plan to mount a serious attempt to retain Arrieta. Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports did report that shortly before signing Yu Darvish to a lucrative six-year deal, Cubs president Theo Epstein called Arrieta to gauge his interest in signing a deal similar to Darvish’s.