REPORT: White Sox Offered Zack Wheeler More Money Than The Phillies And He Still Turned Them Down

Oh my god. This, this is just cruel.

So, Zack Wheeler is signing with the Phillies, agreeing to a five-year contract worth $118 million. The White Sox weren’t just a finalist to sign the free agent, but according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the White Sox actually offered Wheeler more money than the Phillies.

It turns out that one of the factors into Wheeler’s decision to sign in Philadelphia was the proximity of his fiancée’s family that live in New Jersey.

#WhiteSox’s offer to Wheeler was for MORE than the $118M he will receive from the #Phillies, sources tell The Athletic. As @MarcCarig said, Wheeler’s wife is from New Jersey, and that proximity was an important consideration in his decision.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2019

So, in this case, it wasn’t all about the money.

White Sox last year: If we sign his brother-in-law and close friend maybe he'll sign here.

White Sox this year: Screw it we're going to outbid everyone, these guys care more about $ than fami-

— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) December 4, 2019

Bob Nightengale says the White Sox offered Wheeler at least $120 million.

The Chicago #WhiteSox had the high bid on the table for Zack Wheeler at $120 million-plus.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 4, 2019

Ehh, it’s only a $2 million difference.

Now, I have to wonder if the offer from the White Sox for more money was with incentives or actual guaranteed money. Remember, the White Sox walked away from talks with Manny Machado with a bigger deal in their eyes because they offered him an eight-year contract for $250 million that included a couple vesting options that could have seen Machado make $350 million over 10 years. Machado ended up taking the guaranteed $300 million with the Padres.

Hmmm, White Sox making sure everyone gets the message.

Can confirm the White Sox offer to Zack Wheeler was 5 years, $120 million-plus, and the most guaranteed money.

— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) December 4, 2019

Still, it was only a $2 million difference.

The state income tax difference in Pennsylvania vs Illinois is more than 2 million so he gets it back there

— Sox Sided (@SidedSox) December 4, 2019

Doesn’t really matter how close the White Sox were, this is just another tally in the loss column for Rick Hahn.