Zack Wheeler arrives at camp with a new wrinkle and another reason he’s worth the Phillies’ investment
It speaks to Wheeler’s competitiveness. Also, his creativity. Most of all, though, three months shy of his 34th birthday, it might be the best reason for the Phillies to take the plunge and give him another multiyear contract. Fair enough. But those two concepts — how an athlete has performed and what a team expects in the future — don’t always align.
Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were older than Wheeler when they signed three- and two-year deals for matching $43.3 million annual salaries. Jacob deGrom, Wheeler’s friend and former Mets teammate, received a five-year, $185 million contract from the Rangers at age 34 and with a troublesome injury history.
Taijuan Walker is ‘great’ with Rob Thomson and out to show the Phillies there’s ‘no reason not to put me in’