Philadelphia Phillies Reportedly Will Turn to Snell Rather Than Retain Nola in Free Agency

The Philadelphia Phillies will reportedly kick the tires on Cy Young winner Blake Snell rather than try to retain franchise icon Aaron Nola in free agency.

The Philadelphia Phillies want to win a World Series and all eyes will be on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and owner John Middleton on how they go about making that happen.

This offseason will be pivotal, especially considering their homegrown ace Aaron Nola has hit free agency for the first time in his career.

While both sides expressed interest in keeping the Baton Rouge product on the roster, contract extension talks broke down before the 2023 MLB season even began.

According to USA Today, many executives believe that the Phillies will let Nola walk and pivot towards San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell, a pitcher who is in line to win his second Cy Young award after his performance this past season. 

"Phillies owner John Middleton, one of the most aggressive owners in the game, wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again and will hit the free agent market," writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

"He wouldn’t mind bringing back starter Aaron Nola, but they were four years and about $100 million apart in their negotiations last winter, and it’s highly unlikely the gap will completely close.

GMs believe that the Phillies will let Nola walk, and will turn their attention to Blake Snell, who’s about to win his second Cy Young award." 

It would be odd seeing Nola in a different uniform but it also raises the quest of "why?"

Nola has proven to be highly durable throughout his entire career. His pure stuff is among the best in the game and while he has down stretches, he can also get on otherworldly runs. 

Snell, on the other hand, hasn't proven his durability and had walk issues this season, so many saw him as "lucky" that his ERA remained so low. 

It's an interesting pivot that may not upgrade the Phillies rotation significantly enough to justify moving on from Nola who very well could be a Philly lifer. 

An interesting decision lies ahead for the front office and ownership.