Philadelphia Phillies Sign Jesús Luzardo to Five-Year, $135 Million Extension

The Phillies are not letting Jesús Luzardo go.

Sources confirmed by MLB.com indicate that the Phillies have reached a five-year, $135 million contract extension with Luzardo. The 28-year-old Luzardo was originally set to become a free agent after the 2026 season, but this unconfirmed extension will keep him with the Phillies until 2031.

“I obviously want to stay with the Phillies long-term,” Luzardo said last December at a baseball training camp in Coconut Creek, Florida. “I had a great year last year and really love the team and the atmosphere in the locker room.”

It is a smart move for the Phillies to secure Luzardo before he enters the free agent market.

First, they avoid competing with 29 other teams.

Second, this provides immediate short-term and long-term depth for the starting rotation.

Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, Luzardo, and Andrew Painter will be under team control through 2027. If the Phillies exercise Sánchez's team options for 2029 and 2030, Sánchez, Nola, Luzardo, and Painter could even be controlled through 2030.

Wheeler is recovering well from thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September and is expected to return to the Phillies rotation in April. But even if he returns to his typical Cy Young-caliber form, his contract only runs through 2027.

Nola just experienced his worst career season.

Painter remains an unproven rookie after Tommy John surgery in 2023.

Taijuan Walker will become a free agent after this season.

Beyond these, the Phillies system lacks much starting pitcher depth.

Therefore, Luzardo will help. In his first season with the Phillies, he made 32 starts, recording 15 wins and 7 losses with a 3.92 ERA. The Phillies acquired him and catcher Paul McIntosh from the Marlins in a December 2024 trade, sending prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd.

Luzardo finished seventh in the NL Cy Young voting and could have ranked higher, except for two starts in late May/early June where he allowed 20 earned runs over six innings, later admitting his pitching motion was being read by opponents. In his final 19 starts, he went 10-5 with a 3.57 ERA. He performed well in the playoffs, pitching six innings and allowing two runs in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers, and then pitching 1.2 relief innings allowing one unearned run in Game 4.