MLB Network Top 10 reinforces how much of a steal Aaron Nola was in 2018

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It was cool to see how much national attention Aaron Nola gained as the 2018 season progressed, with each dominant start further solidifying that he's an ace, not just a pretty good pitcher.

The guy entered September 15-3 with a 2.10 ERA, a .197 opponents' batting average and eight home runs allowed in 176 innings. The league average home run rate was three times higher than that.

It was a season so spectacular that it will be difficult to top. Even after a slight September correction from Nola, he finished with an ERA (2.37) lower than Roy Halladay's (2.44) in Doc's 2010 Cy Young season with the Phillies.

MLB Network has been ranking the top 10 players league-wide at each position, and it was no surprise to see Nola make the cut among starting pitchers. These were the results from The Shredder, MLB Network's player rating formula which weights the last two seasons evenly:

1. Max Scherzer

2. Chris Sale

3. Jacob deGrom

4. Corey Kluber

5. Justin Verlander

6. Aaron Nola

7. Clayton Kershaw

8. Luis Severino

9. Carlos Carrasco

10. Blake Snell

If you were ranking these pitchers based on value relative to contract, Nola would be even higher, maybe even first overall.

Nola finished with a better ERA and home run rate in 2018 than Scherzer, who had the advantage with strikeouts, walks and hits allowed. They were very comparable pitchers in 2019. Nola made $573,000. Scherzer earns an average of $30 million annually.

Let's take a look at that list again, with each player's salary for the 2018 season alone. (Scherzer's number is different because his contract escalates these next three years):

1. Scherzer: $22M

2. Sale: $12.5M

3. deGrom: $7.4M

4. Kluber: $10.5M

5. Verlander: $28M

6. Nola: $573,000

7. Kershaw: $33M

8. Severino: $604,975

9. Carrasco: $8M

10. Snell: $558,200

Nola will deservedly get a big raise when he goes through the arbitration process for the first time this month. In two weeks, we'll know whether he's making the $4.5 million the Phillies offered him or the $6.75 million his side seeks. It would seem Nola has a good shot to win his case, and the Phillies certainly won't mind losing it. The Phils have Nola under club control through the end of the 2021 season, but a rich extension might not be too far away.

It's a shame the Phillies weren't better able to capitalize on Nola's most inexpensive full seasons of 2017 and 2018. Still, it's an enviable position to be in now, having a starting pitcher who could be valued at $30 million a year making about one-fifth of that. If the Phillies go year to year with Nola over the next two winters, he'd likely make in the neighborhood of $35-40 million in 2020-21 combined through arbitration.

If Nola wins his case on Feb. 14, he would be the eighth-highest paid Phillie (which could obviously change once Manny Machado and Bryce Harper make their decisions). 

Here are the Phils' top 10 salaries, excluding Nola:

1. Jake Arrieta: $25M

2. Jean Segura: $14.85M

3. Andrew McCutchen: $10M
    David Robertson: $10M

5. Juan Nicasio: $9.25M

6. Tommy Hunter: $9M

7. Cesar Hernandez: $7.75M

8. Pat Neshek: $7.75M

9. Odubel Herrera: $5.35M

10. Maikel Franco: $5.2M

Nicasio and Hunter come off the books after 2019.

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