By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
Last week, the Philadelphia Phillies offered Jeremy Hellickson a $17.2 million qualifying offer and on Monday before the 5:00 p.m. deadline, he accepted it.
jeremy hellickson accepted the $17.2M qualifying offer
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 14, 2016
The 29-year-old right-hander went 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA and a career high 3.2 WAR (per FanGraphs) over 189 innings in 2016. With Hellickson sticking around, the Phillies will not receive either a compensatory round pick.
Heading into 2017, the Phillies rotation could look very similar to what it was at the end of 2017 and if Aaron Nola is healthy, they could take a big step moving forward. They also may have some rotation flexibility with their young arms as Zach Eflin and Adam Morgan could still play a part.
With Hellickson's salary set, the Phillies have about $33.7 million owed towards him, Pat Neshek and Howie Kendrick. Meanwhile, Jeanmar Gomez, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez and Cody Asche are all arbitration eligible and the team has $11 million to spend on buyouts for Ryan Howard and Charlie Morton.
