Philadelphia Phillies appear to be favorites to land Jake Arrieta
By Dan Parzych
All of a sudden, the Philadelphia Phillies may be the favorites to land Jake Arrieta after all.
For months, the Philadelphia Phillies have been linked as a potential destination for Jake Arrieta, as the pitcher continues to explore his options, despite Opening Day for the 2018 MLB season getting underway later this month. When considering that Arrieta was one of the top free agents heading into the offseason, it’s kind of amazing to consider that he’s yet to find a home at this point, but it looks like that could all change in the next few weeks.
Turns out, the chances of Arrieta joining the Phillies may have hit a whole new level with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reporting on Sunday that talks are heating up between the two parties, which is awesome news to hear. Expectations were already high for Philadelphia’s rotation thanks to having pitchers like Aaron Nola and Vince Velasquez, but if the team were able to add Arrieta into the mix over the next couple of days, the expectations for the unit would hit a whole new level heading into Opening Day.
Then again, for the sake of the argument that Arrieta turned 32 earlier in March, let’s hope if a deal is reached in the next couple of days, the Phillies will be leaning towards a short-term deal instead of a long one. One of the main reasons why it seems like it’s taken Arrieta so long to find a home is due to the hefty $200 million contract he was originally seeking, and the thought alone of Philadelphia chalking up that kind of money for a 32-year-old pitcher, no matter how good they’ve been, would be ridiculous.
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It will be interesting to see whether a deal is struck in the next few days with Arrieta, but at least the news surrounding the Phillies seeming like the favorite at the moment is exciting for a team that has finished below .500 in each of the last five seasons. Gabe Kapler has already given this young team some much needed confidence heading into the 2018 season for what seems like the first time in forever, and the potential signing of Arrietta would help Philadelphia feel even more confident about their chances to become a surprise contender in the National League.