November 08, 2023
A shakeup could be on the horizon for the Phillies' starting pitching rotation this winter. Nine-year veteran Aaron Nola, coming off his age-30 season, will be a free agent and retaining him won't come cheap, perhaps looking at a contract worth up to $200 million. If the Phils can't retain Nola, they may turn their sights to righty Sonny Gray, as reported by MLB Network's Jon Morosi:
The Phillies are interested in Sonny Gray, sources say, and will be a top suitor for him if they do not retain free agent Aaron Nola.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 8, 2023
Gray and Philly pitching coach Caleb Cotham are former college teammates and worked well together while Cotham was with the Reds. @MLBNetwork
Gray, in his 11th big league season, was an All-Star with the Twins in 2023. He posted a 2.79 ERA, an MLB-best 2.83 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching number scaled to ERA), and allowed the fewest home runs per nine innings (0.4) in the majors.
Gray, 34, is a few years older than Nola, but has only pitched 149 more innings, which is a little under a year's worth of starting pitching work.
Nola has had some elite campaigns in Philadelphia, but has become increasingly inconsistent. Nola's ERA is 4.06 over the last three seasons across 96 starts. That inconsistency has carried over to the postseason as well. He pitched six shutout innings in the Phillies' NLCS Game 2 win over the Diamondbacks, but in a potential close-out Game 6, surrendered two early homers and gave up four runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
The Phillies are never scared to throw money around, so this is certainly not the last we'll hear of them making noise in free agency.
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