Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola will hit the free agency market after this season as his contract extension with the club failed.
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer on the 27th (Korean time), Nola said, “We will talk again when this season is over.스포츠토토 I want to focus on this season. We have to focus,” he said, announcing the breakdown of negotiations.
Nola’s agent, Joe Longo, and Philadelphia president, Dave Dombrowski, have been negotiating a long-term contract since spring training began in the middle of last month. Right after the World Series ended last year, the Philadelphia team first proposed negotiations. However, it is known that there was a large gap between Nola’s desired terms and Philadelphia’s offer.
According to the recent market atmosphere, Nola seems to have requested an average annual salary of $25 million and a contract period of more than 5 years. Another pitcher with a career similar to Nola’s is Carlos Rodon. Rodon also debuted in the major leagues in 2015 and recorded a career record of 56 wins and 46 losses and an ERA of 3.60 until last year. He signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the New York Yankees in the free agency market last winter. Nola was born in 1993 and is one year younger than Rodon.
Nola signed a four-year, $45 million contract ahead of the 2019 season with a fifth-year, $16 million team option. When Philadelphia exercised that option this year, Nola played for a salary of $16 million. After his season, he will be eligible for free agency for the first time in his life.
Nola said, “I worked really hard to achieve the contract, but it didn’t work out the way I wanted. But that doesn’t mean our relationship is over. We’ll talk about it after the season. I look forward to it.”
Agent Longo also said, “I had a lot of good talks with the Phillies. It’s just that I didn’t have a contract this time. We will negotiate again after the season.”
“As for Aaron, he’s a good pitcher, he’s a great teammate, and sometimes you can’t come up with a contract that neither side is happy with,” Dombrowski said. “Aaron knows we’re open to signing after this season. “I hope he stays with the Phillies for a long time.”
Last year, Nola started 32 games and pitched 205 innings, posting an 11-13 record with a 3.25 ERA and 235 strikeouts, ranking fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
He joined Philadelphia with the 7th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2014 draft and debuted in the major leagues in 2015, with a career record of 78-62 and an ERA of 3.60. Since 2018 he has struck out 223 or more every year except for 2020. In particular, he had an average of 1.27 walks per 9 innings last year, which was second among 45 pitchers who passed regulation innings.
Nola is classified as one of the ‘Big 3’ along with Julio Urias of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Max Scherzer of the New York Mets in the free agent market this year. He will start the opening game against the Texas Rangers on March 31 and face off against Jacob deGrom.