Jake Arrieta Rumors: Phillies 'Considering' Signing Free-Agent Pitcher

The Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly "considering" signing free agent Jake Arrieta to bolster their starting pitching.        

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported the news Tuesday, noting it wouldn't be a "perfect match since they are a year from possible contention."

Philadelphia will likely have to pay a significant chunk of change to make that happen. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com cited an MLB executive who said he thought agent Scott Boras is looking for a long-term contract worth approximately $200 million for the right-hander.   

Boras has been aggressive in his pursuit of said contract, as Crasnick noted he sent a 75-page binder regarding Arrieta to teams across the league.

"I don't put values on anything," Boras said. "I just look at performance. I look at the marketplace and say, 'How does he stack up against the top pitchers in the game, and why?' I am not the purchaser. I am not the check-writer. I am merely someone who talks about the performance value."

Arrieta's performance value has been among the best in baseball the past three seasons.

He won the 2015 National League Cy Young with the Chicago Cubs, posting otherworldly numbers with a 1.77 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 236 strikeouts in 229 innings. He was an All-Star in 2016 with a 3.10 ERA and tallied a 3.53 ERA during the 2017 campaign.

While he hasn't been able to replicate his magnificent 2015 season, he helped the Cubs snap their 108-year World Series drought in 2016 with two wins in the Fall Classic and was lights-out in the team's run to the National League Championship Series in 2017 with an 0.84 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 10.2 postseason innings.

He would be a significant boost for the Phillies considering they were a mere 21st in the league in starting pitching ERA in 2017 (4.80) on the way to their fifth straight losing season, per ESPN.com.

However, Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked their farm system as the seventh-best in the league in August.

Arrieta will turn 32 years old before the 2018 campaign, but he could serve as a proven anchor for the youth movement in Philadelphia much like Jon Lester did in Chicago when the Cubs signed him before the 2015 season.