After signing a modest $22.5 million extension in the summer of 2024, it didn’t take long for star southpaw Cristopher Sanchez to prove he was severely underpaid.
It took even less time for Philadelphia brass to do something about it.
The Phillies and Sanchez have agreed to a new contract extension — a six-year deal with $107 million guaranteed, rewarding their ace for a breakout campaign in 2025, noti.group’s Jon Heyman confirmed Sunday morning.
Sanchez, 29, was already signed through 2028 with team options for 2029 and 2030. Now, he’s inked through 2032, with a club option for 2033.
The lefty’s agent, Gene Mato, credited Phillies owner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski for taking care of their ace, when they certainly didn’t have to.
“John and Dave stepped up and decided to reward Cristopher with a deal more than commensurate with his abilities even though the club still had five years of control at minimal dollars,” Mato said, via The Athletic.
“It’s really unprecedented.”
Sanchez’s amended deal comes hot on the heels of a torrid 2025, when he finished second in the National League Cy Young race behind Paul Skenes.
The sinkerballer with a filthy changeup boasted a 2.50 ERA with 212 strikeouts across 32 starts (202 innings) before hurling a pair of dominant October outings in the NLCS against the eventual champion Dodgers.
He later made World Baseball Classic history as the first pitcher to strike out four batters in a single inning in the tournament’s history, doing so while representing the Dominican Republic.
Sanchez’s 8.0 bWAR last season was greater than that of Skenes (7.7), Tarik Skubal (6.5), and Garret Crochet (6.3) — along with every other pitcher on the planet, for that matter.
He’s now set to start Opening Day for the first time in his career at home against the Texas Rangers on Thursday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
