Arrieta

to be like.” Arrieta won the 2015 NL Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs and helped them win the World Series the next season, going 2-0 in a seven-game series against the Indians. He was 14-10 with a 3.53 ERA last year.

Arrieta was 68-31 with a 2.73 ERA in five seasons in Chicago after starting his career in Baltimore. He struggled with the Orioles — 20-25, 5.46 ERA — but transformed himself into one of the top pitchers in the majors. Phillies president Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak worked for the Orioles when Arrieta pitched at Camden Yards.

The Phillies haven’t had a winning season since 2011, but have upgraded their roster by adding veteran slugger Carlos Santana, Hunter, 2017 All-Star reliever Pat Neshek and now Arrieta.

“The team could’ve made a run without him,” Hunter said. “I don’t want to put that burden or that weight on one person to say one guy is going to transform an organization or a team. If you ask him if there’s anybody that can do it, it’d be him. He’s a confident guy. You have to be to pitch at the level he’s pitched the last few years, to walk around with that swag, and it’s going to take a lot of pressure off a lot of people having him in here.”

Arrieta gets $30 million this year, $25 million in 2019 and $20 million in 2020. Arrieta has the right to terminate the deal after the 2019 season and become a free agent again, but the Phillies can void that right if they exercise club options for 2021 and 2022 at $20 million annually.

The price of both options can increase by up to $5 million based on starts in both 2018 and 2019: $1 million for 25 each year, and $500,000 each for 27, 29 and 31.

The option prices would increase to $28 million if he is among the top five in Cy Young Award voting in 2018 or 2019, and to $30 million if he is among the top three in either year.

Arrieta will join Aaron Nola atop the Phillies’ rotation on a team that finished last in the NL East. Jerad Eickhoff and Vince Velasquez are expected to be in the rotation and Nick Pivetta is the leading candidate for the fifth spot. The team has a slew of young pitchers who could fill in.

“He makes us a lot better,” Eickhoff said. “We want to win now. What a competitor, what a person, what a pitcher to learn from. He’s done a lot in the game. It’ll be pretty special to interact with him.

Philadelphia will lose its third-highest pick in the June amateur draft, currently 79th, and $500,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation, and the Cubs will get an extra draft pick at the end of the first round. The Phillies forfeited their second-highest selection and $500,000 in international bonus allocation when they signed Santana to a $60 million, three-year contract.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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Jake Arrieta