Dave Dombrowski uncertain about Aaron Nola's future with the Phillies as contract talks stall

Contract extension talks between Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies have hit a roadblock after both parties failed to agree to a deal, said the president of baseball operations at the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski.

Phillies beat writer Alex Coffey tweeted:

"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."

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Dombrowski, however, remained hopeful about resuming conversations with Nola at the end of the season, stressing his importance to the Philly project.

He said:

"We’re very open-minded to trying to sign him at the end of the season. We’re hopeful that he will remain a Phillie for a long time. We’re also in a spot where of course he’s not a free agent, he’ll be pitching for us all year, including Opening Day, I’m looking forward to him having a big year."

"We figured we would address it at this point so you’re aware of what the circumstances are," Dombrowski concluded.

Nola's agent Joe Longo backed Dombrowski's comments, echoing the fact that the relationship between the two parties was still great. And while there wasn't a satisfactory resolution at the end of all the talks, Longo assured everybody that they'd table the conversation for the end of the season.

“We had good communication with the Phillies. We just couldn’t agree at this time. We’ll pick up the conversation again at the end of the season,’’ Nola’s agent, Joe Longo, said in a statement.

Aaron Nola is entering the final year of his four-year, $45 million extension that he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies before the start of the 2019 season. The deal also included a $16 million club option for the 2023 campaign.

Aaron Nola leads the league's pitchers in starts and innings pitched

Nola was selected by the Phillies with their seventh overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, and the pitcher made his MLB debut on July 21, 2015. Nola has spent nine years in the big leagues, all of them with the Phillies.

He finished last season with an 11-13 and a 3.25 ERA. Nola also leads all of the league's pitchers in starts (143) and innings pitched (871 2/3) since 2018. Nola also ranks seventh on the franchise's all-time strikeout list with 1,380.