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Phillies signing SP Aaron Nola to 7-year, $172 million deal

The free-agent righty has signed a seven-year contract with the Phillies. We break down what it means for his fantasy baseball outlook and Philadelphia’s betting futures.

By Teddy Ricketson
Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies exits the game in the fifth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game Six of the Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Teddy Ricketson is a Staff Writer at DraftKings Network. He has written about everything from the Olympics to NASCAR, with his favorite topics being baseball and fantasy football. Teddy graduated from UNCW, but since they are without a football team, he remains loyal to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Philadelphia Phillies are bringing back starting pitcher Aaron Nola on a seven-year, $172 million deal, per Bob Nightengale and Jeff Passan. There were reports that Nola could be linked with a number if pitching-needy contenders as he hit free agency for the first time, particularly the Atlanta Braves, but Philly brings back its ace for the next seven seasons.

Nola will be heading into his 10th career season in 2024. He’s comi off a relatively down regular season, as he had a 12-9 record with a 4.46 ERA along with 202 strikeouts, a 1.15 WHIP and 2.1 WAR over 193.2 innings of work in 2023. He was much better in October, going 3-1 in the postseason with a 2.35 ERA — although he was unable to shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 6 of the NLCS. Still, he brings a ton of experience and durability to the Phillies rotation and is a great arm to build a staff around, especially considering how many question marks Philly had behind Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez. Nola now gives Dave Dombrowski’s team a second pillar to build around, and while they’re likely not done adding pitching, they can pivot to lower-tier options knowing that Nola’s good for his usual 200ish above-average innings.

Philadelphia currently has the third-best odds to represent the National League in the 2024 World Series. They are installed at +500 at DraftKings Sportsbook, trailing only the Atlanta Braves (+340) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (+400), but this is of course with free agency barely underway. The Phillies have the fifth-best odds to win the World Series at +1100.

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