You could say it was when the team signed Yu Darvish, or you could say it was when the season ended, or you could say it was the sides didn’t come to an agreement on a long-term extension years ago. Whenever you say the writing went up on that wall, it’s been clear for a little while that Jake Arrieta was not coming back to the Chicago Cubs.
Today, per multiple reports, Arrieta agreed to a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, which will guarantee him $75 million. A three-year deal is far short of what the 32-year-old Arrieta sought heading into the offseason, but the $25 million AAV is the most anyone is getting right now, and is higher than what Darvish got from the Cubs. So at least there’s that for him to hang his hat on.
[UPDATE: There are also some creative terms in there, which has become the vogue for free agents like Arrieta:
Arrieta salaries are 30M, 25M and 20M. Can opt out after two. Deal could go to 5 years and be worth 125M to 135M. #phillies
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 11, 2018
phillies can void the arrieta opt out by triggering a 2-year extension that starts at 20M per year, rises to 25M based on games started in first 2 years, or up to 30M based on cy young finishes. 135M possible. #phillies
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 11, 2018
So, it’s one of those frontloaded-with-an-opt-out deals that we’ve seen a lot this offseason (including the Cubs’ deal with Yu Darvish), but how about that new wrinkle? The opt-out can be voided if the Phillies decide, “OK, we’ll make this a longer-term deal.” Back to the original post.]
We’ll get more into Arrieta’s time with the Cubs and the fallout from this deal in the coming days, but the short version high points: