Phillies sign Jake Arrieta to a 3-year $75 million deal

zambonir 2018-03-12 17:19:19 UTC #61

Well, if you're not healthy you're certainly not eating innings, even if it doesn't reflect the length of your starts. But agreed. By current standards he and Nola should still be horses.

andyb 2018-03-12 17:33:02 UTC #62

The Ringer likes the move. Of course they want to keep on spending (i.e. Cobb). I am not quite there. Adding a player midseason if they are in contention should certainly be on the table though.

phillychuck 2018-03-12 19:32:52 UTC #63

I don't know how anyone can say that they've never been a fan of Arietta's. Look at early 2016:

"Arrieta’s second career no-no thrust him back into the headlines, but he accomplished something even more impressive two starts earlier—ironically his only one this season in which he has given up a run. On April 10, Arrieta made his second start of the year and allowed three runs in seven innings against the Diamondbacks. That marked the 22nd consecutive regular-season start in which he pitched six or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs, dating back to his shutout of the Twins on June 21 of last year. According to baseball-reference.com’s Play Index, that is the longest such streak by a major league starter since 1913, which is as far back as the game logs go. The previous record of 21 consecutive starts of that description was set by Greg Maddux from June 27, 1997 to April 15, 1998 and was tied by Johan Santana during his first AL Cy Young season in 2004. The only other pitcher since 1913 to make 20 such starts consecutively was the Astros' Mike Scott during his NL Cy Young season of '86. "

When the pitchers on your comparable list for more than 2 seasons are Greg madden, Johan Santana, Mike Scott, and Bob Gibson you're pretty consistent and pretty dominant.

andyb 2018-03-12 20:03:58 UTC #64

Orioles connection paying off finally:

Hopefully these guys rode a few minor league busses with Manny (though Manny really did not spend a whole lot of time in the minors there).

zambonir 2018-03-12 20:20:46 UTC #65

Certainly this signing does nothing to change my belief that the front office feels really good about their relationship with Machado. If all else (money, chance to win a championship, market size) is equal that could be the difference, and if it's only obvious in hindsight that Arrieta was the guy the Phillies always wanted, we already know Machado is the guy they probably want more than Harper.

And of course they probably also liked Arrieta personally. It's just as easy to make a mistake when you love a guy (Gillick and Looper certainly loved digging into their past, with both great and bad results) but nothing wrong with a little goodwill.

andyb 2018-03-12 20:25:39 UTC #66

I would not have been shocked if they wanted Darvish more than Arrieta. Darvish likely did not want them and they never tried that hard. We only tried on Arrieta when the market collapsed and we were the only team that could easily offer a high AAV. The Nats never could really being in the luxury tax already.

zambonir 2018-03-12 20:41:28 UTC #67

I agree they had to be interested in Darvish, but he may not have been their top choice. And yes, they also had good reason to think he wasn't coming, and certainly not on team-friendly terms.

But compared to Lynn/Cobb and compared to all the lower-end guys everyone (including all the beat guys) said they were gonna get, it seems their eye was on this prize the whole time, and they were either confident in their chances or willing to come up empty. I guess we'll never know if they would have signed Cobb had that happened (though, it now seems likely they already knew they were getting Arrieta when Lynn signed).

andyb 2018-03-12 20:45:08 UTC #68

Yep. I think Lynn realized he had no places to go for big money and one place to go to pitch on a contender. He should have sent signals to STL that he would accept their QO because he ended up getting killed by the compensation combined with teams being a little unsure about him.

DurhamBull 2018-03-12 21:18:55 UTC #69

Yes, it's said in stock market investing that sometimes the best deal is the one you don't make. I was fine with the Phils saying no if they couldn't get a deal to their liking.

flyers19rw 2018-03-12 21:54:36 UTC #70

IDK what was going on between the Cardinals and Lynn but they didn't seem to have a cozy relationship last season. Publicly, St. Louis said that they made a big attempt to sign Lynn before the TDL. That failed and Lynn more or less told the Cards that he was finished with them. He was adamant about going FA and turned down their QO as you stated. It would be hard, not impossible, for the two sides to kiss and make up at this point.

julio 2018-03-12 22:04:50 UTC #71

The Arrieta signing is official:

Also, per the Phils' press release (which I'll post in a bit), Tommy Joseph has been designated for assignment, to make room for Arrieta on the 40-man roster.

LoneStarPhan 2018-03-12 22:12:36 UTC #72

Not surprised Joseph moved off the 40. I’m sure they tried to move him since the end of last season but found no interest.

zambonir 2018-03-12 22:29:10 UTC #73

I'd like to think someone will offer a token something for him but if not, it doesn't really change anything for the Phillies or for him (unless he wants to ask for his release to go to Asia).

el-pietro 2018-03-12 23:15:19 UTC #74

He might not be the greatest pitcher in baseball but he makes this club better! Exciting times!

David_Criss 2018-03-13 01:43:32 UTC #75

This is best thing that could happen to Joseph. He has hit well this spring and is coming off a 20 + homer season. This truly will tell him if any team wants him on the big club. If not he gets to pick between aaa and Japan. Still somewhat surprised kc signed Duda over trading for Joseph.

schooldoc 2018-03-13 02:22:53 UTC #76

For these contract terms, this is a move that had to be done.

WIth Arrieta slotting in behind Nola, this means that the group of Eickhoff, Lively, Pivetta, Velasquez, Eflin, and Eshelman are needed to fill 3 rotation spots rather than 4. I think that is a much more realistic ask out of that group at this point in time. Arrieta should be able to provide 160-180 innings of reliable work this year. That will help the rotation and the 'pen.

I also like the veteran leadership that Arrieta can provide these young starters. Arrieta has done it all--Cy Young, WS champ, you name it. And, he had to struggle through the early years of his career in order to get there. This isn't a guy who set the league on fire from the minute he got there; he had to work hard and persevere to reach the pinnacle. Without a doubt, there are things he can teach these guys about both the mental and physical aspects of pitching.

Finally, this move was important for the franchise itself. Time moves fast in sports, and while 2011 was a long time ago 2008 really seems like ancient history. You've got the Eagles reigning supreme in this city and The Process gaining momentum every day. THe Phillies, let's face it--they needed to do something to stay relevant. They can not afford to have CBP be resembling a mausoleum again this August and September. If it does, I don't think there would be enough zero's Matt Klentak could write on a check to entice a Harper or a Machado to even take his phone call next December, let alone consider signing here. Moves like this resonate with players around the game and with fans in this city, and that matters. It just does.

Kudos to Klentak for seizing this opportunity when it presented itself and for ownership to sign off. And last but not least, welcome #49!!!

Dirk41 2018-03-13 03:37:21 UTC #77

What's the ETA on a legit ML left handed starter? Not even an ace, 2, or 3... Who's the lefty Eickhoff?

kmc1019 2018-03-13 03:56:16 UTC #78

JoJo Romero is closest the Phils have to a legit LHP prospect. Strong at Lakewood and Clearwater last year, will hopefully start at Reading and could be knocking on the door at this time next year.

Probably a 4/5 starter. Would love to see Liberatore there at #3 In June's draft.

zambonir 2018-03-13 04:33:24 UTC #79

David Fischer notes that Arrieta could change the bullpen/bench calculus. I dunno if that will be the case in the end especially since there are more usable arms on the 40 than potential extra bench guys (save Rupp) but of course they were never going to go with a four-man bench for all 162 either.

Slinging_Southpaw 2018-03-13 12:52:09 UTC #80

Tampa was also a head-scratcher for me. They traded for C.J. Cron(basically the same player), but about 2 million dollars more expensive. That doesn't make sense with their penny pinching ways.
I would be absolutely shocked if he doesn't get traded, or passes through waivers. Just that he has options gives him much more value to any other team.