Philadelphia Phillies: Jake Arrieta signing makes team playoff contenders

The Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a three-year deal with former Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta on Sunday.

Despite Opening Day getting underway in a few weeks, it was surprising to see Jake Arrieta, who many considered to be one of the top free agents available in the offseason, still in search of a new team to play for in 2018 when looking at all of his success over the last coupe of years with the Chicago Cubs. On Sunday, chatter was beginning to heat up over the Philadelphia Phillies emerging as the favorite to land the 32-year-old pitcher, and believe it or not, the deal became official before the day could even come to an end.

After months of wondering whether it would happen, Arrieta officially agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal with the Phillies to bring expectations for Gabe Kapler‘s team to a whole new level heading into the 2018 season. Philadelphia was already considered one of the early winners of free agency after agreeing to a three-year, $60 million deal with Carlos Santana, but with the addition of Arrieta to a solid rotation that already consisted of Aaron Nola and Vince Velasquez, it may be time to throw this team into the conversation of potential playoff contenders in the National League.

Obviously, that may sound like a bit of a stretch to make about a team that has finished below .500 in each of the last five seasons. Not to mention, Philadelphia still needs to show their offense is capable of scoring more runs on a consistent basis, which was a major issue a majority of last season.

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Still, when looking at how much money the Phillies were willing to spend this offseason to help give them a better chance of competing in 2018, it’s amazing to see this team finally making the necessary moves to get back in the playoff conversation since it seems like they’ve been going through rebuilding mode forever. Arrieta may have plenty of catching up to do since his new teammates have already been participating in spring training for quite a while now, but that’s nothing the veteran isn’t capable of handling. Philadelphia was already drawing praise as a potential sleeper in the National League, but thanks to this major signing of Arrieta, expectations for the playoffs just hit a whole new level for Kapler’s squad.