5 early landing spots for Aaron Nola after Phillies extension talks end

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With Opening Day 2023 less than a week away, it doesn’t appear that the Philadelphia Phillies and right-hander Aaron Nola will agree to terms on a contract extension to keep the ace in town long-term. At least not for now.

Dombrowski says that conversations with Nola's camp about a contract extension have been broken off

"We think the world of him, quality pitcher, quality human being, but sometimes you get to this point where you're not able to consummate a deal that both sides feel comfortable"
— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) March 25, 2023

This comes after reports that the two sides were hammering out a potential extension with the self-imposed, but soft deadline of Opening Day. Nola’s agent Joe Longo believes that contract negotiations could eventually restart between his camp and the Phillies after the 2023 season, but the competition that Dave Dombrowski and Philadelphia will face to retain the soon-to-be 30-year-old starter in free agency is sure to be stiff.

Nola posted a 3.25 ERA over 205 innings pitched in 2022, compiling a 6.0 bWAR. And in the aftermath of this news, he could be motivated to pitch even better in 2023, now a likely walk year. Should he do just that, here are five teams that could line up to acquire the right-hander in free agency at the conclusion of the season

5 way-too-early landing spots for Aaron Nola in the aftermath of failed Phillies extension talks

San Diego Padres

Brother Austin Nola is a catcher for the Padres, and the two siblings faced each other last October in the NLCS. But could you imagine a Nola to Nola battery in San Diego? The possibility exists.

The Padres proved to everyone this past offseason that they aren’t afraid to toss their money around, and though they could be in the running to sign Shohei Ohtani, a fallback plan will be necessary. And what a fallback to have in Aaron Nola.

San Diego’s top two starters are Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, with Blake Snell behind them. After those three? It gets messy for the Padres. Slotting Nola in after Musgrove and Darvish would relegate Snell to the fourth spot and give San Diego a rotation similar in caliber to their All-Star lineup.

Oct 19, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) pitches in the ififhtinng against the San Diego Padres during game two of the NLCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Mets

The Mets are a surprisingly good fit for Aaron Nola. Current co-aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are short-term fixes for a rotation that will eventually need a complete overhaul. Besides Kodai Senga and maybe David Peterson or Tylor Megill, New York lacks long-term assets in that area.

That’s where Aaron Nola makes sense.

Should the Mets find themselves losing the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes after the 2023 season, the 30-year-old Nola would immediately be able to anchor their future rotation alongside Senga. New York also lacks in the way of elite starting pitching prospects, so it’s not like they’ll find much help internally once Verlander and Scherzer leave (or retire), either.

And who says the Mets aren’t in line to extract some revenge on the Phillies after the latter has poached Zack Wheeler and Taijuan Walker in recent years?

St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis’ rotation is not in great shape heading into 2023, let alone into the future. Beyond Jack Flaherty, who himself needs to recoup his former ace status, there’s a lot of solid but unspectacular in Miles Mikolas, Jordan Montgomery, Steven Matz and Jake Woodford. Adam Wainwright will also be retiring, leaving another hole in the Cardinals’ starting staff.

Therefore, Aaron Nola seems like a logical fit for St. Louis next winter.

Nola is the kind of ace-type the Cardinals sorely need, instead of patching holes with the Jon Lesters and Jose Quintanas of the world. Pairing Nola with new backstop Willson Contreras would also give St. Louis a solid foundation to build out the rest of its staff as they continue to be the strongest team in a weak division.

Aug 25, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports /

Boston Red Sox

Another team with rotation issues, the Boston Red Sox would be a sensible landing spot for Aaron Nola next season.

Boston is trotting out Corey Kluber on Opening Day this year, which would’ve been something to behold in 2017, but not so much in 2023. Behind Kluber is oft-injured former ace Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta, with prospect Brayan Bello serving as depth.

There’s just not a lot to like about the Red Sox’ starting staff in 2023. Aaron Nola by himself couldn’t alleviate their problems, but he’d be a great start towards a solution to them.

And despite how the Xander Bogaerts situation played out this winter, and Mookie Betts before him, the Red Sox do have money, as evidenced by the Rafael Devers extension and the signing of Masataka Yoshida from Japan. The question is will they spend it wisely next time around, like on Aaron Nola?

Minnesota Twins

This team is constantly looking for starting rotation upgrades, it seems.

Between the Pablo Lopez trade this offseason, dealing for Tyler Mahle at last summer’s deadline and Sonny Gray the winter before that, the Twins never seem to be satisfied with their starting five. Perhaps that’s because they’re missing a true ace.

Aaron Nola could help with that.

The Twins came out of the woodwork to re-sign star shortstop Carlos Correa this winter in a shocking development, which ultimately proved that Minnesota has the money to spend when it wants to. And with an ace pitcher in Nola likely to hit the open market next winter, the fit is there from a positional standpoint. This is the type of starter the Twins need to finally get over the top in the AL Central.

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