The Phillies want Jake Arrieta on a short-term deal. This we know, and that makes complete sense. He’s 32 years old and the Phillies are going to have some salary crunching to do a few seasons down the road.
Jake Arrieta and the Phillies are having a ‘dialogue’ but is it just a play for leverage?
How much of this is legitimate and how much is Scott Boras doing his thing?
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But they’re not there yet, so they have some money to spend. And they need starting pitching. Lucky for them, there are still multiple top starters to be had, because this offseason is a hellscape of absolutely no deals and weird Scott Boras quotes. Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb are all available through one route or another and the Phillies would match well enough with any of that trio.
According to FanRag’s Jon Heyman, they’re targeting Arrieta for the time being, with the team and Arrieta’s camp “having dialogue” with each other. To translate that from 18th century teatime language: both sides are talkin’.
The reason a deal isn’t close, or even realistic based on current details, is that the Phillies are sticking to their guns when it comes to a short-term deal. Which is smart. Arrieta is good but probably not good enough to compromise what could be a very positive future by committing to a long-term deal. So if the Phillies know they would only go for a short-term deal and Scott Boras knows that he only wants something lengthier for Arrieta, why are they even talking?
Well, maybe because Boras and Arrieta have their eyes on the Nationals and what they can offer. Both sides have been linked multiple times throughout this offseason at varying levels of legitimacy without anything coming from it so far.
Which leads me to believe that there is at least a possibility that Boras is still answering the Phillies’ calls as leverage for getting a longer deal from Washington. Or to make sure there’s a backup plan if that one doesn’t pan out. So, ideally, Arrieta would either end up with the contract he wants from the Nationals or a shorter contract that pays him from the Phillies as a last resort.
He’s not a perfect fit for the Nationals (have you seen what they’re paying their pitching staff already?) but the Phillies aren’t a perfect fit for him. Which means this is a round robin of phone calls and hedging until someone blinks. Very Boras, but not very fun for us.
Arrieta had a 3.53 ERA and a 4.16 FIP in 2017, with 163 strikeouts and 55 walks in 168.1 innings on the mound over 30 starts. He even lowered his walk rate from the season prior. So he’ll be fine, and sign somewhere, that should only be a matter of time. Until then we’ll continue to get drips of rumors like this one where there are no real details and sides are just “having dialogue.”
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