Phillies officially sign Arrieta to 3-year deal

Welcome to Philly, Jake Arrieta.

The right-hander officially joined the Philadelphia Phillies on a three-year deal Monday:

Arrieta, who will wear No. 49, will be introduced in a press conference Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET at the Phillies' spring complex in Clearwater, Fla.

No terms were announced, but Arrieta will reportedly be paid $75 million and the deal contains a variety of unique opt-outs and incentive clauses. The 32-year-old can opt out after the 2019 season, but the Phillies can void that opt-out by triggering an automatic two-year extension that could raise the deal's value to $135 million.

Though word of the agreement first came down Sunday, Arrieta broke the news with a cryptic tweet Monday, shortly before the Phillies' announcement:

Arrieta joins the Phillies following five seasons with the Chicago Cubs, where he morphed into a star. As a Cub, he won the 2015 Cy Young Award, threw a pair of no-hitters, and helped them end a 108-year World Series championship drought in 2016.

Now, Arrieta will be part of a young Phillies team on the verge of competing for a playoff berth and anchor an up-and-coming rotation.

"It shows that the turning of the tide is a lot sooner than I think we all thought," starter Jerad Eickhoff told Matt Breen of Philly.com on Monday. "This whole camp has been real positive and there was this sense that it could happen sooner than later, but this is just another piece. … It makes us a lot better. You'd be crazy to think it doesn’t."

First baseman Tommy Joseph was designated for assignment to make room for Arrieta on the 40-man roster.

By signing Arrieta, who had rejected a qualifying offer from the Cubs earlier in the offseason, Philadelphia forfeits its third-round draft pick in this year's MLB draft (it had already forfeited its second-rounder after signing Carlos Santana). The Cubs will receive the 2018 draft's 78th overall pick following Competitive Balance Round B as compensation.