Sources - Phillies, Zack Wheeler agree to 3-year, $126M extension - ESPN

Zack Wheeler has reached an agreement on a three-year, $126 million extension with the Philadelphia Phillies, according to sources, bypassing the possibility that the ace pitcher will become a free agent in the fall.

An announcement by the Phillies is expected Monday.

With a salary of $42 million, Wheeler's deal is the most lucrative extension in baseball history in terms of average annual value. It also is in the neighborhood of the richest salaries for pitchers. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander signed multiyear deals as free agents with the New York Mets that averaged $43.3 million.

Wheeler, who is entering the final season of a five-year, $118 million contract, has had great success with the Phillies, a team that has doled out big money for stars in recent seasons — Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Aaron Nola and others. There has been a sense this spring that the right-hander and the team would work out another deal.

Wheeler's deal does not contain a formal no-trade clause, but he will soon earn what is known as 10-and-5 rights — he has more than 10 years of service time already, and once he completes his fifth season with the Phillies, he can veto any trade.

Not that the Phillies would consider trading Wheeler, who has a 3.06 ERA in his first four seasons with Philadelphia — with an Adjusted ERA+ of 137 — and has 675 strikeouts in 629⅓ innings. Wheeler also led the major leagues in innings pitched (213⅓) in 2021 and won a Gold Glove Award last season.

Early in Wheeler's tenure with Philadelphia, owner John Middleton rejected the notion that the Phillies would ever consider trading the right-hander, saying he wouldn't deal him for Babe Ruth or Ted Williams. The front of the Phillies' rotation appears set for years to