Former GM Criticizes Phillies' Contract Extension for Cristopher Sanchez

On the same Sunday they finalized their Opening Day roster, the Phillies also re-extended the contract of left-handed starter Cristopher Sanchez for the second time in 21 months.

The Phils clearly felt Sanchez had outperformed his previous extension of $22.5 million over four years with two team options at the end of it, guaranteeing him over $90 million in new money.

The terms of the extension, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, are as follows:

• Sanchez' salaries of $3M in 2026, $6M in 2027 and $9M in 2028 remain the same.

• The club options for $15M and $16M in 2029 and 2030 have been guaranteed.

• The Phillies will pay Sanchez $30M in 2031 and $30M in 2032. All of that is new money.

• They hold a new club option on Sanchez for 2033 at $44.5M.

• Sanchez can earn an additional $13M in bonuses throughout the contract.

Setting a precedent?

The Phillies did not need to extend Sanchez again, especially so soon after doing it the first time, but this appears to be both an act of goodwill and a signal to future free agents that if you outplay your contract here, you can be rewarded before it expires.

Former Reds and Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, who has spent much of the past two decades as a radio broadcaster, did not have a positive reaction to the Phillies' extension of Sanchez, citing the future impact of it.

"The way the #Phillies reworked the contract of Cristopher Sanchez sets a horrible precedent for teams," Bowden wrote. "Great for Sanchez, generous of the Phillies, but now a player that has far outperformed his agreed upon contract might ask his club to do the same."

This wasn't Bowden saying Sanchez is not worth the money or that the Phillies made a mistake in paying him. He is arguing that it will make it more difficult for other teams to extend and keep young players who continue to ascend. The Braves, for example, have reaped the rewards for nearly a decade of Ronald Acuña Jr. locking himself into an eight-year, $100M contract early in his career that almost everyone in the baseball world immediately saw as an extremely team-friendly deal. Acuña has deserved a raise for years but hasn't gotten it.

Other teams, though, aren't the Phillies' concern. Their concern is their own roster, their own future and their own ability to continue to attract players to what is often described as a first-class organization.

Timing is everything

The timing probably wasn't a coincidence. Sanchez' first extension came at the end of June 2024, what had been his best month as a professional baseball player to that point. Four days after signing, he pitched the first shutout of his career. Two weeks later, he made his first All-Star team.

This time, the extension comes four days before Sanchez' first Opening Day start.

"We kind of assumed Years 4 and 5 were a no-brainer as far as we were going to pick those up," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters on Sunday. "We couldn't even imagine a scenario in which we wouldn't. So now we start talking beyond that. And we thought with somebody of Cristopher's stature that we'd rather get this done now, while he's still at the age that makes sense for us."

The 29-year-old southpaw has reached new heights in three consecutive years, producing an A-plus pitching season in 2025 — a 2.50 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 202 innings with 212 strikeouts, just 44 walks, only 12 home runs allowed and the fourth-highest groundball rate (58.3%) in MLB. He would have won the NL Cy Young award if not for that meddling Paul Skenes.

Rotation envy

The Phillies have committed themselves to starting pitching in an era when most teams don't. They wouldn't have done it for any group of arms, but this rotation has a chance to be baseball's very best in 2026 and beyond.

Sanchez is under contract with the Phillies through the end of 2032.

Jesus Luzardo, also extended earlier this month for $135M over five years, is under contract through 2031.

Aaron Nola is under contract through 2030.

Andrew Painter's major-league service time clock hasn't even begun.

The only members of the Phillies' rotation with contracts soon set to expire are Zack Wheeler, who has a year left after this one on his historic three-year, $126M extension, and Taijuan Walker, a free agent after 2026.