Phillies May Be Playing It Smart by Not Concluding a One Year Agreement with Aaron Nola Right Now
The news at the end of Friday was that the Phillies had avoided arbitration with five of the six players eligible this year. That one player with whom the Phillies have not reached an agreement is Aaron Nola. News reports indicate that Nola seeks $6.75 from the arbitrator, while the Phillies want the aribitrator to award $4.5 million. Many Phillies fans are incensed over this. Nola has been the Phillies’ most consistent starting pitcher over the last three years. Last year, he finished third in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award, with a record of 17-6 and an ERA of 2.37. Surely Nola has been the Phillies’ most promising prospect in the latest rebuilding process. How can the Phillies be so greedy as to let Nola slip into an embarrassing and potentially damaging process of arbitration over two million dollars? This is especial egregious given that the Phillies May be poised to conclude long-term $300 million contracts with not one, but two free agents, neither of whom are without t