Phillies Ace Christopher Sánchez Agrees to Reworked 6-Year Deal

The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a new six-year contract with Opening Day starter Cristopher Sánchez. The deal announced Sunday for last season’s NL Cy Young Award runner-up begins in 2027 and will run through 2032 with a club option for 2033. Terms were not made immediately available by the team. However, the deal will include $103 million in new money, ESPN reported. Sánchez had been pitching under a $22.5 million, four-year contract that was through the 2028 season. He went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA in 32 starts last season and struck out a career-high 212 batters. He’s 30-21 overall in four full big league seasons. Originally signed by the Tampa Bay Rays as an amateur free agent in 2013, Sánchez was acquired in a trade by the Phillies on Nov. 20, 2019, for infielder Curtis Mead. Mead played in just 41 games for the Chicago White Sox last season, while Sánchez has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in baseball and helped key the Phillies’ run to consecutive NL East titles in 2024 and 2025. The Phillies want to keep their postseason run going — four straight appearances headed into 2026 — and have locked up all veteran members of their staff to long-term deals. Jesus Luzardo earlier this month finalized a $135 million, five-year contract that starts in 2027. Zack Wheeler has a $126 million deal through the 2027 and Aaron Nola a $172 million, seven-year agreement through 2030. Rookie Andrew Painter is under team control through 2031 and earned the fifth starter spot in the rotation. The Associated Press contributed to this report.