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Braves Decline Darren O’Day’s Option

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The Braves have turned down right-handed reliever Darren O’Day’s $3.5MM club option for 2021 in favor of a $500K buyout, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. O’Day is now the second notable reliever to have a team decline his option today, joining the Indians’ Brad Hand, who could earn $10MM in 2021 if another club acquires him.

While O’Day isn’t as noteworthy or expensive as Hand, it’s nonetheless surprising to see the Braves give him up. With the league coming off a pandemic-shortened season sans fans, though, these moves could be a sign of negative things to come for the players this winter. It seems relievers will face some economic adversity in free agency, but it’s possible the open market will prove to be disappointing for most or all players, regardless of position.

No matter how free agency does shake out across the league, O’Day currently looks like one of the most accomplished relievers on the open market. Despite averaging around 86 mph on his fastball throughout his career, O’Day has been highly effective with a handful of teams since he debuted in 2008. The longtime Oriole owns a 2.51 ERA/3.43 FIP with 9.36 K/9 and 2.47 BB/9 in 576 2/3 innings in the majors.

The Braves acquired O’Day from the O’s in the 2018 season, but his year had already ended on account of a hamstring issue. Anthony injury, this time to his forearm, kept O’Day out until September of last season, but he was able to end on a positive note with five strong innings. The Braves then re-signed O’Day to a guaranteed $2.5MM last winter, and he went on to deliver in 2020 with 16 1/3 innings of eight-hit, three-run ball, also notching 22 strikeouts against five walks. But that excellent performance was not enough to convince the Braves to keep O’Day around for what looked like a reasonable sum.

Juan Soto Likely To Reach Super Two Status

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The official Super Two cutoff for this winter hasn’t yet been established, but it’s expected that Nationals outfielder Juan Soto will surpass it, Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington reports. That should put the 22-year-old slugger in line for a lucrative pay raise over the minimal amount he earned in 2020, and it could perhaps lead to a record-setting salary for a first-time arbitration-eligible player.

As a reminder, Super Two status gives a player who has more than two but fewer than three years’ service time a chance to go to arbitration four times instead of the typical three. Soto has amassed two years and 134 service time during what has been a brilliant career so far.

Since he broke into the majors in 2018, Soto has slashed an otherworldly .295/.415/.557 with 69 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 1,349 plate appearances, and he helped lead the Nationals to a World Series in 2019. The Nationals didn’t come close to defending their championship this year, but Soto did all he could to keep the team on top. As a 22-year-old, he was likely the best hitter in baseball, leading the NL in all three triple-slash categories (.351/.490/.695) with 13 HRs and six steals over 196 PA. Soto also totaled far more walks (53, including 12 intentional passes) than strikeouts (28).

While it’s unclear exactly how the arbitration process will unfold on the heels of a 60-game season, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Soto will rake in anywhere from $4.5MM to $8.5MM. Even at the high end, though, Soto would fall short of the record $11.5MM salary then-first-time arb-eligible player Cody Bellinger received in 2018.

2020-21 MLB Free Agents

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Below is our list of current free agents for the 2020-21 offseason.  Numbers in parentheses represent the age at which the player will play the 2021 season.

If you see any notable errors or omissions, please contact us.  The cutoffs for the list this winter are 25 plate appearances or 10 innings pitched in the Majors in 2020.

Our free agent tracker tool can be found here.

Updated 10-29-20

Catchers

Alex Avila (34)
Drew Butera (37)
Welington Castillo (34)
Jason Castro (34)
Robinson Chirinos (36)
Tyler Flowers (35)
Bryan Holaday (33)
Erik Kratz (41)
Sandy Leon (32)
Jeff Mathis (38)
James McCann (31)
Yadier Molina (38)
Roberto Perez (32) — $5.5MM club option with a $450K buyout
Josh Phegley (33)
Wilson Ramos (33)
J.T. Realmuto (30)
Rene Rivera (37)
Austin Romine (32)
Kurt Suzuki (37)
Stephen Vogt (36) — $3MM club option with a $500K buyout
Matt Wieters (35)
Mike Zunino (30) — $4.5MM club option for 2021

First Basemen

Matt Adams (32)
Asdrubal Cabrera (35)
C.J. Cron (31)
Derek Dietrich (31)
Todd Frazier (35)
Marwin Gonzalez (32)
Howie Kendrick (37)
Tommy La Stella (32)
Jake Lamb (30)
Mitch Moreland (35) — $3MM club option with a $500K buyout
Logan Morrison (33)
Daniel Murphy (36)
Anthony Rizzo (31) — $14.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Pablo Sandoval (34)
Carlos Santana (35) — $17.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Justin Smoak (34)
Eric Thames (34)
Yasmany Tomas (30)
Ryan Zimmerman (36)

Second Basemen

Daniel Descalso (34) — $3.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Logan Forsythe (34)
Freddy Galvis (31)
Leury Garcia (30) — $3.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Marwin Gonzalez (32)
Adeiny Hechavarria (32)
Cesar Hernandez (31)
Enrique Hernandez (29)
Jason Kipnis (34)
Tommy La Stella (32)
DJ LeMahieu (32)
Jed Lowrie (37)
Chris Owings (29)
Joe Panik (30)
Jose Peraza (27)
Jurickson Profar (28)
Jonathan Schoop (29)
Dee Strange-Gordon (33)
Jonathan Villar (30)
Neil Walker (35)
Kolten Wong (30)

Shortstops

Ehire Adrianza (31)
Freddy Galvis (31)
Leury Garcia (30) — $3.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Didi Gregorius (31)
Jose Iglesias (31) — $3.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Joe Panik (30)
J.T. Riddle (29)
Marcus Semien (30)
Andrelton Simmons (31)
Eric Sogard (35)
Jonathan Villar (30)

Third Basemen

Asdrubal Cabrera (35)
Zack Cozart (35)
Todd Frazier (35)
Marwin Gonzalez (32)
Jedd Gyorko (32) — $4.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Adeiny Hechavarria (32)
Brock Holt (33)
Tommy La Stella (32)
Jake Lamb (30)
DJ LeMahieu (32)
Brad Miller (31)
Joe Panik (30)
Eric Sogard (35)
Justin Turner (36)

Left Fielders

Michael Brantley (34)
Jay Bruce (34)
Brett Gardner (37) — $10MM club option for 2021
Dee Strange-Gordon (33) — $14MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Robbie Grossman (31)
Brock Holt (33)
Matt Joyce (36)
Nick Markakis (37)
Cameron Maybin (34)
Marcell Ozuna (30)
Joc Pederson (29)
Jurickson Profar (28)
Yasmany Tomas (30)

Center Fielders

Jackie Bradley Jr. (31)
Rusney Castillo (33)
Jarrod Dyson (36)
Brett Gardner (37) — $10MM club option with a $2.5MM buyout
Billy Hamilton (30)
Jon Jay (36)
Jake Marisnick (30)
Kevin Pillar (32)
Mallex Smith (28)
George Springer (31)
Michael A. Taylor (30)

Right Fielders

Ryan Braun (37) — $15MM mutual option with a $4MM buyout
Jay Bruce (34)
Nick Castellanos (29) — can opt out of remaining three years, $48MM
Rusney Castillo (33)
Adam Eaton (32)
Marwin Gonzalez (32)
Enrique Hernandez (29)
Jon Jay (36)
Matt Joyce (36)
Nick Markakis (37)
Cameron Maybin (34)
Joc Pederson (29)
Kevin Pillar (32)
Yasiel Puig (30)
Josh Reddick (34)
Steven Souza Jr. (32)
George Springer (31)
Giancarlo Stanton (31) — can opt out of remaining seven years, $218MM

Designated Hitters

Matt Adams (32)
Michael Brantley (34)
Ryan Braun (37) — $15MM mutual option with a $4MM buyout
Yoenis Cespedes (35)
Shin-Soo Choo (38)
Nelson Cruz (40)
Edwin Encarnacion (38) — $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Matt Kemp (36)
Howie Kendrick (37)
J.D. Martinez (33) — can opt out of reamining two years, $38.75MM
Brad Miller (31)
Logan Morrison (33)
Marcell Ozuna (30)
Pablo Sandoval (34)
Yasmany Tomas (30)

Starting Pitchers

Brett Anderson (33)
Chase Anderson (33) – $9.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Chris Archer (32) – $11MM club option with a $250K buyout
Jake Arrieta (35)
Homer Bailey (35)
Trevor Bauer (30)
Trevor Cahill (33)
Tyler Chatwood (31)
Anthony DeSclafani (31)
Robbie Erlin (30)
Mike Fiers (36)
Kevin Gausman (30)
Zack Godley (31)
Gio Gonzalez (35) — $7MM club option with a $500K buyout
Cole Hamels (37)
J.A. Happ (38)
Rich Hill (41)
Merrill Kelly (32) — $4.25MM club option with a $500K buyout
Corey Kluber (35) — $17.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Mike Leake (33)
Wade LeBlanc (36)
Jon Lester (37) — $25MM mutual option with a $10MM buyout
Tommy Milone (34)
Mike Minor (33)
Matt Moore (32)
Charlie Morton (37) — $15MM club option with no buyout
Jimmy Nelson (32) — $2MM club option (can become $9MM mutual option based on innings total)
Ivan Nova (34)
Jake Odorizzi (31)
James Paxton (32)
Martin Perez (30) — $6.25MM club option with a $500K buyout
Rick Porcello (32)
Jose Quintana (32)
Robbie Ray (29)
Garrett Richards (33)
Tyson Ross (34)
Jeff Samardzija (36)
Anibal Sanchez (37)
Matt Shoemaker (34)
Drew Smyly (32)
Marcus Stroman (30)
Masahiro Tanaka (32)
Julio Teheran (30)
Michael Wacha (29)
Adam Wainwright (39)
Taijuan Walker (28)
Alex Wood (30)
Jordan Zimmermann (35)

Right-Handed Relievers

Pedro Baez (33)
Anthony Bass (33)
Dellin Betances (33) — $6MM player option with a $3MM buyout
Brad Boxberger (33)
Brad Brach (35)
Jesse Chavez (37)
Steve Cishek (35) — $6.75MM club option with a $750K buyout
Tyler Clippard (36)
Alex Colome (32)
Wade Davis (35)
Chris Devenski (30)
Oliver Drake (34)
Ken Giles (30)
Shane Greene (32)
Javy Guerra (35)
Matt Harvey (32)
Liam Hendriks (32)
Yoshihisa Hirano (37)
Greg Holland (35)
Jared Hughes (35)
Tommy Hunter (34)
Jeremy Jeffress (33)
Nate Jones (35)
Keone Kela (28)
Ian Kennedy (36)
Brandon Kintzler (36) — $4MM club option with a $250K buyout
Brady Lail (27)
Matt Magill (31)
Trevor May (31)
Collin McHugh (34)
Mark Melancon (36)
Juan Nicasio (34)
Darren O’Day (38)
Brad Peacock (33)
Yusmeiro Petit (36)
David Phelps (34) — $4.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Erasmo Ramirez (31)
AJ Ramos (34)
David Robertson (36) — $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Sergio Romo (38)
Hector Rondon (33)
Trevor Rosenthal (31)
Joakim Soria (37)
Pedro Strop (36)
Tyler Thornburg (32)
Josh Tomlin (36)
Blake Treinen (33)
Nick Vincent (34)
Edinson Volquez (37)
Brandon Workman (32)
Kirby Yates (34)

Left-Handed Relievers

Jose Alvarez (32)
Luis Avilan (31)
Andrew Chafin (31)
Ross Detwiler (35)
Sean Doolittle (34)
Brad Hand (31) — $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Derek Holland (34)
Mike Kickham (32)
Aaron Loup (33)
T.J. McFarland (32)
Jake McGee (34)
Oliver Perez (39)
Nick Ramirez (31)
Tony Watson (36)
Justin Wilson (33)

White Sox Name Tony La Russa Manager

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The White Sox announced today that Hall of Famer Tony La Russa is returning to the organization as their new manager for the 2021 season. La Russa has agreed to a multi-year deal, tweets Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

This is, of course, the second managerial stint for La Russa with the White Sox organization. His first began more than four decades ago in 1979 and ran through the 1986 season. While others were connected to the White Sox vacancy, most notably former Astros skipper A.J. Hinch, it appears that La Russa was owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s pick from the beginning. Indeed, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that the move to hire La Russa was purely a “Reinsdorf decision” while noting that others in the organizations “have concerns” about La Russa’s ability (or lack thereof) to connect with the club’s young core.

It’s been nine full seasons since La Russa last managed at the MLB level, with the Cardinals, and the game has changed considerably since that time. Data from clubs’ analytics departments has increasingly made its way into in-game decision-making, often generating polarizing reaction from fans, and the sport as a whole has moved to embrace aggressive defensive shifts and pitching strategies that defy the conventional wisdom which permeated big league dugouts during La Russa’s last run.

Since that time, La Russa has remained involved in the game in a variety of roles, most notably serving as the Diamondbacks’ “chief baseball officer” from 2014-17 — a stint that is remembered more for his role in overseeing one of the more lopsided trades in recent memory than for the team’s performance in that time.

After moving on from skipper Rick Renteria, it was reported that the White Sox wanted an experienced manager with a winning pedigree, which prompted many onlookers to speculate about Hinch and former Red Sox manager Alex Cora. La Russa does fit the bill on a fundamental level, having spent 33 years a Major League manager during which time he’s posted a .536 winning percentage, taken home six pennants and won three World Series titles.

Still, to say this hiring bucks the industry trend at this point would be making a colossal understatement, and the decision to bring La Russa aboard has already generated a rather perplexed reaction from those within the game and pundits alike. La Russa will inherit a wildly talented core of young players that give him the foundation for a championship caliber club — Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Nick Madrial, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Dane Dunning among them — but the unconventional (by today’s standards) nature of his hire will also put him under a microscope as he strives to navigate that core to the World Series.

Indians Place Brad Hand On Outright Waivers

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In a rather stunning move, the Indians have placed closer Brad Hand on outright waivers, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). It’s a pure cost-cutting transaction from Cleveland, with the hope that another team places a claim on the left-hander, who has a $10MM club option on his current contract. Any club that claims Hand would be able to pick up that option and retain him for the 2021 season at that $10MM price.

Per Meisel, the Indians had planned to decline the option, which would’ve required paying a $1MM buyout. They’ll decline it if he goes unclaimed. However, Cleveland would stand to save that $1MM if another team makes a claim, which seems possible given Hand’s excellent 2020 season and generally strong track record.

Hand, 30, led the American League with 16 saves this year and posted a 22-to-4 K/BB ratio with a 2.05 ERA over the life of 22 innings. He had a few hiccups in the ninth inning early on, but Hand’s overall results fall right in line with his All-Star track record. Since being unearthed by the Padres on a waiver claim back in 2016, Hand owns a 2.70 ERA with 12.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and 0.87 HR/9.

Waiver priority at this juncture is based on reverse order of the league-wide standings. That’d give the Pirates, Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox, D-backs, Orioles, Nationals, Mets, Rockies and Angels first crack at Hand, in that order. Most of those clubs are rebuilding or cutting costs themselves, but it’s feasible that a team like the Red Sox, Nats, Mets or Angels could place a claim with an eye toward contending in 2021.

Frankly, revenue losses notwithstanding, it’s arguable that any club should welcome the chance to bring Hand into the fold. There’s not a team that wouldn’t be bettered by adding a pitcher of this caliber to its relief corps, and the one-year, $10MM price point would be considered a bargain under normal market circumstances.

Of course, the absence of fans in 2020 has created what most expect to be a brutal market for free agents as clubs take drastic measures to cut payroll. As such, some clubs will surely pass on claiming Hand — maybe in hopes that he’ll go unclaimed and be available on a multi-year deal at a lower annual rate — but it’s hard to imagine that a hopeful contender won’t jump at the opportunity to acquire an elite bullpen price on a one-year term.

As for the Indians, this removes  doubt about the club’s offseason direction. It’s long been expected that they’ll continue last winter’s efforts to pare back payroll, although not in such egregious fashion. The move to place Hand on waivers only seems to further the likelihood that Cleveland will trade superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, whose salary could approach or exceed $20MM in his final trip through the arbitration process. That much has looked likely since owner Paul Dolan infamously told fans to “enjoy him” a few years back, but it now feels more inevitable than ever before.

Looking more broadly at the market as a whole, it’ll be of greater concern for free agents — relievers, in particular — across the game if Hand somehow passes through waivers unclaimed. If no club is willing to take on Hand at a one-year, $10MM term (or if he survives all the way to the Dodgers, who are last in waiver priority), that will speak volumes about market expectations in the months to come.

White Sox, Tim Beckham Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder Tim Beckham, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The Wasserman client will receive a $1.35MM base salary in 2021 if he makes the roster.

Technically teams are still in the period of exclusive negotiations with their own free agents, but Beckham was unsigned for the 2020 season and thus free to negotiate with any club. He was hit with an 80-game PED suspension back in Aug. 2019. He’s already served a portion of that ban but will presumably still need to serve the remainder before he’s eligible to suit up for a big league club.

Beckham was the No. 1 overall pick of the Rays in the 2008 draft, and while he has had his moments since then,it has largely been a disappointing career. Now 30 years old, Beckham has combined for a .249/.302/.431 with 63 home runs and 31 stolen bases over 1,751 trips to the plate with the Rays, Orioles and Mariners. During his most recent action, he batted a similar .237/.293/.461 and smacked 15 HRs across 328 PA.

Defensively, Beckham has seen plenty of action all over the infield and even some in the corner outfield. So, if he does make the White Sox, Beckham could serve as insurance behind the likes of Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Nick Madrigal and Eloy Jimenez.

Mariners Re-Sign Kendall Graveman

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11:42am: Graveman’s deal comes with a $1.25MM base salary and another $2.5MM worth of incentives, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). That will give him the opportunity to earn a bit more than the $3.5MM he’d have taken home had the Mariners picked up his option.

11:35am: That was quick. Just one day after declining their $3.5MM club option on Kendall Graveman, the Mariners announced that they’ve re-signed the right-hander to a new one-year, Major League contract for the 2021 season. It’s surely at a lesser rate than that $3.5MM price point, but the Sports One Management client looks as though he’ll be locked in as a member of the team’s bullpen again next season.

Graveman, 29, returned to the Majors in 2020 after missing most of 2018 and all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. The initial hope was that he’d be a member of the team’s six-man rotation, but Graveman spent much of the year on the injured list due to a neck injury and returned to the club in September as a reliever.

The results upon his return were encouraging, however, as Graveman averaged a career-best 96.4 mph on his sinker and held opponents to four runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 10 innings. Three of those runs came in one particularly rough outing, but Graveman allowed just one run in the rest of his bullpen outings combined. He also sported a hefty 55.4 percent ground-ball rate in that time, giving further cause for optimism about his potential as a reliever over the course of a full season.

For Seattle, re-signing Graveman is its first noteworthy order of business in what should be an active winter for its relief corps. After the Mariners’ bullpen finished 2020 last in the AL in ERA and fWAR, general manager Jerry Dipoto declared the M’s would try to add three to four relievers in the offseason.

Astros Place Roberto Osuna On Outright Waivers

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The Astros have placed right-hander Roberto Osuna on outright waivers, reports Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter link). The right-hander missed most of the 2020 season with an elbow injury and was initially recommended to undergo Tommy John surgery, although a second opinion caused him to attempt to rehab the injury without surgery. Osuna was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to repeat his $10MM salary in his final trip through arbitration, and his salary and injury have made an obvious non-tender candidate. That’s what this move effectively boils down to.

Given Osuna’s injury, projected salary and prior suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, it’s all but a lock that he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent.

Still just 25 years of age, Osuna pitched only 4 1/3 innings in 2020 before landing on the injured list with what proved to be a season-ending elbow ailment. He’s been consistently excellent every season he’s been on the mound — career 2.74 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 — but Osuna also served 75-game suspension in 2018 after his girlfriend filed domestic violence charges against him. Osuna eventually agreed to a peace bond in Canada, which resulted in the charges being dropped.

Per the Canadian Department of Justice’s web site, peace bonds are generally used when “an individual (the defendant) appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.” The Canadian Department of Justice further specifies  that peace bonds are obtainable by “any person who fears that another person may injure them, their spouse or common-law partner, or a child, or may damage their property.”

All of that will be factored into any future negotiations between Osuna and a new team once he reaches the market, although Osuna’s own track record shows that teams will look past allegations of abuse and assault in order to acquire a productive Major Leaguer. The Astros embarrassingly walked back their own “zero tolerance” policy for domestic abuse in order to acquire Osuna at a lower cost in the middle of his suspension, and we’ve seen other teams pay premium prices to sign players who’ve served suspensions under the domestic violence policy (most notably the Yankees with Aroldis Chapman).

The most immediate determining factor in Osuna’s next destination will be the health of his right elbow (or lack thereof). He began a throwing program about a month after initially being shut down, but he’ll have a ways to go before he’s ready to rejoin a bullpen.

Corey Kluber Cleared For Normal Offseason Routine

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The Rangers will reportedly decline Corey Kluber’s $18MM option in favor of a $1MM buyout after the right-hander missed nearly the entire 2020 season due to a Grade 2 teres major strain. However, it appears as though that injury is behind him, as WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that Kluber has been cleared for his normal offseason routine.

No timeline for Kluber’s recovery was provided at the time of his injury. Both he and teammate Jose Leclerc sustained the same injury within days of one another, and the Rangers announced that both would be shut down entirely for a month before attempting to throw.

It’s perhaps worth noting — if only to highlight the bizarrely connected web of players with this injury — that the Indians put an 8-12 week timeline on one of their relievers when he had a similar injury back in March: right-hander Emmanuel Clase … whom they landed from Texas in exchange for Kluber. In 2019, another Indians righty, Mike Clevinger, missed about 10 weeks with a teres major strain of his own.

Every injury is different, of course, but those broad timelines, paired with Bradford’s report, suggest that Kluber’s injured muscle has largely healed up by this point. Still, as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted as soon as Kluber hit the 45-day IL, it always seemed likely that the $18MM option price would be deemed to risky. That much was apparent even before the Rangers struggled through a dismal season as a whole, finishing with one of the game’s worst records, and began talking of a youth movement.

Unsurprisingly, fans of just about all 30 teams clamored on social media yesterday for their club to be the one to buy low on Kluber this winter. Interest should indeed be widespread, particularly if he is indeed able to go through his typical routine and can be expected to be full-go come Spring Training. Kluber should have a variety of offers to sift through even in spite of a pair of injury-wrecked seasons. His 2019 injuries — a fractured forearm after being hit by a comeback liner and an oblique strain — were fluky, after all.

It’s hard to imagine any club going beyond two years given the missed time and the sport’s revenue losses, and any multi-year offer would probably come with a relatively muted annual rate. Speculatively, a strong one-year offer with a contender would figure to be appealing for Kluber. That would give him the opportunity to reestablish himself for a return to market next winter and to allow him some control over his future for the first time in his career. He’d surely be hit with a qualifying offer at season’s end if he bounces back, but a healthy Kluber would also be a lock to reject that and still find strong interest in free agency.

Phillies Outright Heath Hembree, Adam Morgan

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The Phillies have outrighted relievers Heath Hembree and Adam Morgan, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Both were arbitration-eligible, and both have the service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, which is a mere formality at this point. Hembree was one of the team’s August trade pickups from the Red Sox. Morgan has been a longtime member of the bullpen but recently underwent flexor tendon surgery that is expected to sideline him for six to nine months.

Hembree, 31, was a stable member of the Boston bullpen for years but got out to an ugly start in 2020 and saw things get worse after the trade. From 2016-19, the right-hander notched a solid 3.60 ERA with 10.1 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 212 2/3 innings of work — plus 4 2/3 shutout frames in the 2018 postseason. He allowed six runs in 9 2/3 frames with the Red Sox prior to the swap, although nearly all of the damage against him came in one nightmare outing (four runs and zero outs recorded).

With the Phils, however, Hembree uncharacteristically yielded runs in eight of his 11 appearances on the mound, including a four-run drubbing in his final outing of the year. All told, he served up 13 runs on 17 hits — a staggering seven of which were home runs — and five walks with 10 strikeouts in just 9 1/3 innings. His struggles made him a clear non-tender candidate, and the Phillies opted to act early rather than prolong the decision.

Morgan, a 30-year-old lefty, was tagged for eight runs in 13 frames during an injury-shortened 2020 season. He broke into the Majors as a rotation hopeful with the Phillies, starting 36 games for the club from 2015-16, but struggled to find success in that role. Upon a full-time move to the ’pen in 2017, though, Morgan found a home as a regular member of the staff. From 2017-19, he tallied 133 2/3 frames with a 3.97 ERA and 4.08 FIP, averaging 9.6 strikeouts and 3.4 walks per nine innings pitched while also recording a solid 47.8 percent grounder rate.

The bullpen figures to be among the Phillies’ top priorities this winter — a new deal with J.T. Realmuto is surely their No. 1 goal — and moving on from Hembree and Morgan now gives them a bit more flexibility as they pursue those goals.

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