OPINION: Zack Wheeler's Contract is One of the Best Free Agent Signings Ever

In 2019, then-general manager Matt Klentak and the Philadelphia Phillies front office signed Zack Wheeler to one of the greatest free agent contracts in professional sports history. Wheeler has played a key role in returning the Phillies to their first World Series trip since 2009.

2019 free agent signing Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run that will be remembered forever Sunday, sending the Philadelphia Phillies back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Harper was named the Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series, but it was another 2019 free agent signing that also shined in the Phillies' series-clinching, 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres Sunday.

Nine months after Phillies general manager Matt Klentak tagged Bryce Harper with a 13-year, $330 million contract, the executive signed one of the best free agent contracts in the history of professional sports, locking up Zack Wheeler for five years and $118 million.

Wheeler has been dominant throughout the 2022 postseason. Through four starts, Wheeler has a 1.78 ERA, 0.51 WHIP and 25 strikeouts over 25.1 innings pitched.

Over the first six innings of Sunday's game, Wheeler allowed just one run on two hits and no walks, as the Phillies nursed a 2-1 lead.

After giving up a lead-off single to Jake Cronenworth to open the seventh inning, Wheeler's day was done.

Seranthony Dominguez would come in and run into immediate trouble, throwing three wild pitches and giving up a Josh Bell RBI double, that would account for two runs, giving the Padres a 3-2 lead and setting the stage for the biggest moment of Harper's career.

Wheeler was excellent once again, however, Sunday.

When Klentak signed Wheeler, the move was highly scrutinized by fans and media.

Klentak and the Phillies front office saw Wheeler as a pitcher entering his age-30 season that could take a couple of steps, reach another level and become one of the game's best pitchers.

A highly-touted prospect and the sixth overall pick of the 2009 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, Wheeler showed flashes of greatness over his first two big league seasons, before needing Tommy John surgery that would put him on the shelf for all of the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Wheeler's return season, 2017, didn't go well. He posted a 5.21 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over 86 innings and 17 starts.

Between 2018 and 2019, Wheeler was a good, not great, pitcher for the New York Mets, logging a 3.65 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

The Phillies wasted no time in signing Wheeler once he hit the free agent market, locking him up to his five-year deal in the early stages of free agency in Dec. 2019.

Throughout baseball history, teams have been haunted by bad free agent signings that tie them down financially. That is not the story of the Zack Wheeler contract, though.

Wheeler excelled in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, finishing 12th in National League Cy Young award voting.

In 2021, Wheeler finished second in Cy Young voting and probably should have won the award, as he led the National League in innings pitched, strikeouts, complete games and shutouts, to the tune of a 2.78 ERA.

Wheeler was excellent again in 2022, posting a 2.82 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 26 starts.

Wheeler has transformed himself into a true ace, and his contract is looking like one of the most cost-effective in baseball.

Wheeler is owed $48 million over the final two years of his contract in 2023 and 2024.

Wheeler is going to make essentially the same amount as Marcus Stroman will ($46 million) over the next two seasons. Stroman signed with the Cubs last winter.

The Phillies acquired an elite pitcher at the price most teams would pay for a quality third starter or fourth starter.

Of course, Klentak did not stick around long enough to enjoy the fruit of his labor, as he stepped down after the 2020 season and was soon replaced by Dave Dombrowski. 

Phillies fans might not look back on the Matt Klentak era with nostalgia, but they should be thankful for at least a pair of his free agent signings, both of whom played a key role Sunday in sending the Phillies back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.