Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey on Saturday that the team has ended contract extension talks with Aaron Nola.
So, despite efforts to agree upon another deal, Nola will pitch the 2023 campaign in the final year of his current deal.
“We think the world of him,” Dombrowski told Coffey. “Quality pitcher, quality human being, but sometimes you get to this point where you're not able to consummate a deal that both sides feel comfortable.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Nola’s career in Philadelphia will end after this season. Dombrowski noted that the two sides can get back together at the end of the year to try and work out a deal, though Nola will be a free agent after the season once his current five-year, $56 million deal expires.
“We're very open minded to trying to sign him at the end of the season,” Dombrowski said. “We're hopeful he'll remain a Phillie for a long time.”
Nola has spent his entire eight-year career with the Phillies, highlighted by an All-Star campaign in 2018 in which he pitched to a 2.37 ERA in 33 starts. Last season, the 29-year-old righty finished with a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts, marking the fourth straight season (excluding the pandemic shortened 2020 campaign) in which he logged at least 32 starts.
In his first two postseason starts of his career last year, Nola combined for 12.2 innings without allowing an earned run, but he was knocked around in his final three starts, including two in the World Series.