The Phillies finalized a one-year contract with reliever Jordan Romano, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed at the Winter Meetings. The longtime Blue Jays righty is reportedly guaranteed $8.5MM and would receive another $500K if he pitches 60 innings next season. Romano is represented by VC Sports Group.
The Phils are making a bet on a bounceback. Romano, 32 in February, just finished a frustrating and injury-marred season with the Blue Jays but was their closer for three years prior to that. The righty saved 95 games for the Jays from 2021 to 2023, tossing 186 innings with a 2.37 earned run average. He struck out 30.3% of batters faced in that time while giving out walks at a 9.2% clip and getting grounders on 42.3% of balls in play.
But 2024 was mostly a lost season for him. He started the season on the injured list due to some right elbow inflammation and never seemed to be fully healthy. He went on and off the IL throughout the year, making just 15 appearances with a 6.59 ERA. His 21% strikeout rate in that small sample was not only below his previous work but also below league average.
He underwent arthroscopic surgery on the elbow in July and was given an estimated six-week shutdown time frame. The Jays were hoping to get Romano back on the mound before the season was up but that didn’t come to pass. His last major league appearance was May 29.
The Jays could have retained Romano for one more season via arbitration. Salaries almost never go down via the arb system, so MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected the righty for the same $7.75MM salary he made in 2024. The Jays apparently weren’t willing to fork over that kind of cash for the chance to find out if Romano could get over his lost season, as he was not tendered a contract for 2025. Last week, general manager Ross Atkins said that he expected Romano to be healthy and hoped to re-sign him, but presumably at a lower price point. Instead, Romano will get a fresh start with a new organization and get a slight pay bump.
The Philadelphia bullpen has been shuffled quite a bit in recent months. They traded away Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto at the trade deadline, then lost Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez to free agency at season’s end. They still have some good arms back there, including Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm, but they’ve naturally been looking for bullpen upgrades this winter.
Opting for Romano also makes sense for financial reasons. The Phils have spent a lot of money on their roster in recent years, both via free agency and extensions of incumbent players. That has led to them paying the competitive balance tax three years in a row now. Going into 2025, they were projected to have a high payroll and CBT number yet again, before even making any offseason moves.
That has seemingly led to a shift in approach this winter. While they have been connected to many of the top available free agents in recent offseasons, they seemingly didn’t get involved in the Juan Soto frenzy and there have been many rumors about them trying to trade players like Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm and others.
They reportedly had some interest in re-signing Hoffman and Estévez but both will likely be signing deals far larger than this pact for Romano. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Hoffman for a four-year, $44MM deal. That was before the clubs reportedly expressed interest in him as a starter, which could potentially increase his earning power. Estévez was projected for a more modest $27MM guarantee over three years, but still a notable commitment.
By going for Romano, the Phils are hoping that they are making a big upgrade to their bullpen but at a relatively low cost since they are buying low. There is some risk there, as relievers are generally volatile in general and Romano is coming off an injury-marred season, but it’s a logical gamble to take. If things go especially well, it’s possible the Phils could extend a qualifying offer to Romano at the end of next year. Qualifying offers for relievers are rare, but guys like Josh Hader, Raisel Iglesias and Will Smith have received them in recent years.
Now factoring in Romano, RosterResource projects the Phillies for a $271MM payroll. That would be a franchise record by a significant margin, with Cot’s Baseball Contracts having them in the $242-244MM range in recent years but never higher than that. RR projects the CBT number at $289MM for next year. That’s not only beyond the $241MM base threshold but also the second and third tiers of $261MM and $281MM, respectively. As a third-time CBT payor, the Phils will be looking at a 50% base tax next year as well as surcharges of 12%, 45% and 60% for spending beyond the higher tiers. That means they are already slated for a 95% tax rate on any additional spending right now and a 110% rate if they go beyond $301MM, though successfully trading away a notable contract could drop them lower. If they remain above the third line of $281MM, they would also see their top pick in the 2026 draft dropped back ten spots. All of these could be significant factors as the club looks to make further upgrades in the rest of the offseason.
For the Jays, remaking the bullpen will also be a big storyline in the coming weeks and months. Their relief group had a collective ERA of 4.82 in 2024, ahead of just the Rockies and a key factor in their disappointing season. Getting better results out of the bullpen will be necessary for a turnaround but they will have to do so with a new closer. Chad Green racked up 17 saves in 2024 while Romano was mostly out of action and could be the favorite for the job among guys currently on the roster, but they could perhaps find an external addition and bump green into a setup role.
Jim Salisbury first reported the Phillies had interest in Romano. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the sides had reached an agreement. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first correctly reported the terms.
Definitely an upgrade if healthy
Big IF
Big if Big IF true.
He has to pass a physical and they for sure saw him throw before signing. Not that big of an if
Estevez gone.
I think he’s gone too, but that’s unrelated to this move. Romano won’t be the Phillies closer. They still need a closer. Romano is a high-upside gamble. They need a steady closer.
Agreed. Worst case is you end up with a two headed monster at the end. Just don’t bank on Romano at this time
Don’t think that’s worst case think worst case would be out for season
Agreed Von, Romano feels like a secondary add with some lottery ticket upside
Nope this is their top RP get. Cant afford anyone else.
Nuh uh!! Lol
Is it time to hand the closers job to Kerkering? His numbers get better the later in the game it is. I get that we would need to replace him in the 7th or 8th, but I think I’d do it.
He puts a lot of dudes on base, but he’s absolutely a future closer.
Health is an issue so I hope they have a Plan B.
The Phillies are addicted to 9th inning drama
I doubt he’s viewed as the closer.
Who else they got ?
I would use Strahm or Kerkering before Romano.
Strahm is not a closer
Neither is Kerkering but someone has to slide into the closer role. As of now, both are better closer options unless Romano shows he can bounce back.
The Phillies have entered the chat.
Great now maybe Phili fans won’t be attention seeking on every other thread lol
Yeah, and the Phillies fans too!
Nice pickup!…Come on Braves let’s do something sheesh
AA will do a couple of things before the end of the winter meetings. He didnt clear payroll to do nothing
AA is playing 4D Hungry Hungry Hippos.
I like this move…
CHEESY!
I think it’s grate.
He’s a Muenster on the mound.
Hmmm, Romano + Hoffman, is quite OK. Romano as the primary bullpen addition would be not so good
They aren’t done.
Certainly, I’m just thinking this signing reduces the likelihood of a Hoffman return. Hoffman reportedly has a very strong market.
They lost 2 closer types. This replaces one. They still need another. I think Hoffman is more in play than Estevez.
I hope so. I think DWilliams or MBrash may be more in play now than Hoffman. I would be thrilled to be wrong about that. I think Hoffman is the guy we want here. A shame they couldn’t get something done in ST 2024 when his value was half what it is now.
Completely agree with everything you said. I fear the Mets may steal Hoffman.
Kerkering is ready imop to be a closer. He has the stuff, and pitched very well last year.
brash? why would Seattle trAde low
It would be Brash for Bohm.
I still think this is a plausibility. I suspect the Phillies will try to move some salary in the next few weeks. Ranger Suarez fits the bill. So does Bohm. Phillies would certainly pay $8m for someone to take Castellanos and his remaining $40m over the next two seasons. All along, all signs pointed to the Phillies moving one or more of their mid-salary players. So, Bohm to Seattle for Brash +. Perhaps +DMoore who is a FA in 2026 and is a RH hitter who hits lefties particularly well.
If he can just stay healthy
First domino to fall post Soto signing.
Not because Phillies were not in on Soto and don’t need a 1B/DH.
Phillies going cheap rather than spend on Hoffman or Scott. Now need to trade for doval or Williams
Who would you trade for Doval. Giants wont sell low
The buzz surrounding Doval is that the Giants are willing to sell low, at least to some degree. Few know team chemistry like Posey, so Doval’s questionable attitude at times probably factors in. They won’t give him away, but don’t think they have unreasonable expectations on the return…just my 2cents.
I’m sure it’s just FO speak but he expressed confidence in Doval today and said that they trust he will play a big role for them next year
Didn’t catch that, probably got no offers to their liking. What else can you say? No reason he can’t bounce back, regain his confidence, fix the walk issues etc. just thought it would be with another team. On the other hand if it is FO speak then expressed confidence is the kiss of death 😉
That buzz didn’t come from the Giants, they don’t “buzz”, it’s not how the team does business. For that matter not sure why all of the sudden Doval has a questionable attitude but since he doesn’t speak English I guess that sort of thing can have a life of its own when a player goes through a rough year.
Doval’s year was down but down from a very high place. The velocity was mostly in place, the GB rate remains elite, sort of like Blake Snell in 2023, his year included a BB rate that was not sustainable. His 2024 arb number is such that literally any team in MLB could afford him + the 3yrs of control.
I think ultimately because everyone can afford Doval + this off-season market has more buyers than free agents/sellers, someone is going to pay the Giants price. I do believe that price is an MLB everyday player, I do not believe he gets moved for prospects.
I still think they may go after Hoffman.
Bohm for Doval sounds like a good change of scenery trade for everyone. Bohm playing 1b for the Giants. His bat could play well in SF. Doval looks like a Caleb Cotham project waiting to happen.
You don’t trade a solid every day IF with 2 years of control for a reclamation-project reliever. Bohm’s tricky because he won’t warrant a huge return. I think youre better off just keeping him.
Especially when there are no obvious internal or external replacements. The Phillies do not really have anyone they can easily plug into 3B and most of the FA options are down grades. Just look at the Phillies “ASK” from Seattle for Bohm. It was VERY high. Adrian Miller may be an option in 2026 but he is far from ready now.
The Phillies don’t WANT to Move Bohm, but if another team is DESPERATE enough for a 3B an overpay…of course they will listen.
His elbow is string cheese
mmmmm. yummy….
I think Romano will be well worth it. One of the best closers before getting injured.
An injury to the elbow leaves a good amount of doubt that he can return as one of the best closers.
Many pitchers return from elbow injuries. It’s a one year deal worth taking.
That’s why it’s a 1 year deal for less than $10MM. If he’s fully healthy how much you think he gets instead? The difference is that doubt being factored in.
Ok Blue Jay fans why are Atkins and Shapiro sitting on their ass as usual , those2 fools have done enough crap to this organization and all we do is keep paying them to do nothing .
According to them they are interested in everyone but do not sign anybody , no wonder Bo and Vlad are going to walk at the end of season . I think this guys are fed up with Atkins and Shapiro handing the organization. And Rogers is sitting on their asses doing nothing because Toronto fans keep paying through the nose for tickets and the renovations to stadium. When are Toronto fans going to realize we are not going to games to have a party atmosphere , we go to enjoy a competitive BASEBALL team on the field.
Toronto fans r morons, they love to complain and yet support losers….exhibit 1…the Leafs!!
RGR…..the Leafs now owned by the same bunch…they must be reading each others executive playbooks
Be nice…rumor has it they have created an executive team to analyze the cup holder situation….
Rogers Centre is going to be half full this season. And Vlad leaves it will be one quarter full. And once you piss off that many fans, it will be hard to get them back. This franchise had the world in the palm of its hand in ’22 and ’23 and blew it.
Good move here by DD
A good signing, but agreed that they need another arm for that pen. The team is too good to allow the pen to be a source of vulnerability. And we need to start seeing some of the prospect arms filtering into the pen beyond Kerkering as well.
Hoffman to Yankees let’s go Cashman
He’ll be on the DL before opening day
I’m sure you’re a blast at parties.
Thought Coltrane was known for Jazz not the Blues…
Oh. I like the cut of your jib. Well done.
What’s the DL?
Why is a team in a championship window betting on bounce back players? Don’t like it
That’s really how you make good bullpens. Relievers are so up and down. You have to gamble every year. Playoff series aside, Phils had a solid pen last year.
All teams take a few shots if they can at bounce back candidates. The reigning WFC team does this more than anyone, although it is much easier for them due to revenue disparities.
I would love for the Phils to sign Hoffman if possible or someone else with a bit more relative certainty to alleviate my heartburn however to enter the season. And yes…bullpen are a work in progress on a year to year and month to month basis no matter what.
Because Dumbrowski refuses to spend on a lockdown closer. Predictable. Now waiting for cheap 15-20 home run type, right handed outfielder and bounce back number 5 starter.
I agree we need a lockdown closer. I think he’s still going to try to acquire one. Who do you have in mind?
This move goes to show that the Blue Jays’s GM is a moron. They could have easily paid him his one year contract and then shipped him out for a prospect. I knew that, everyone else here knew that. Goes to show you that the most capable people rarely get the job
Theodore
December 9, 2024
Ok Blue Jay fans why are Atkins and Shapiro sitting on their ass as usual , those2 fools have done enough crap to this organization and all we do is keep paying them to do nothing .
According to them they are interested in everyone but do not sign anybody , no wonder Bo and Vlad are going to walk at the end of season . I think this guys are fed up with Atkins and Shapiro handing the organization. And Rogers is sitting on their asses doing nothing because Toronto fans keep paying through the nose for tickets and the renovations to stadium. When are Toronto fans going to realize we are not going to games to have a party atmosphere , we go to enjoy a competitive BASEBALL team on the
By this time next year, they will be gone, but so will Vladdy and Bo and the team will be entering a long drawn out rebuild….good work boys!!!
Walked away Rene….
I like the addition for the low cost and years. Can’t be the only one bargain hunting Dave gets done. I dont want to see a 4. year 50M deal to Hoffman either…
I wanted the Orioles to get him
Always can use another live arm with experience
….assuming if healthy
Good signing by the Phillies
agreed that it’s a good signing for Philly.
my fear is the O’s will now be back shopping at the “Philadelphia House ‘o Misfit Relievers” again.
Soroka instead, please!
I disagree with the majority here. Kerkering and Strahm have closer stuff. Alvarado does when he’s throwing balls near the plate which, granted, seems like 40% of the time. Romano, if healthy, does not have to close, even without another pickup.
Exactly. I don’t necessarily assume he’ll be the closer.
@Therealeman I disagree about Strahm, I don’t think hes much better than a 6th or 7th inning guy. Kerkering though I believe can be one of the best closers in baseball within the next 3 or 4 years. He just flat out knows how to pitch
The fact you just said “6th inning guy” makes me long for the days starters threw more than 85 pitches.
As a general rule, I’m not a hate on the Blue Jays management all the time person
But this is absolutely egregious
All they had to do was activate his option, trade him, for anything, as a net gain.
The fact that they didn’t think anyone would take a flyer on him at that price, just shows, there must be zero respect for them within their colleagues in the industry.
“Activate his option, trade him”..No one was paying Romano
$7M+ AND giving up assets for him on a trade. Romano was a strong minor league deal candidate and just because the Phillies went crazy(with desperation)doesn’t mean other teams felt the same way.
Had the Blue Jays activated Romano’s option, there’s a strong possibility they’d get stuck with him for the full year. There’s simply better moves and options available. Sometimes the best move for a team is to be prudent, rational and just walk away.
Soto just got $765 million and you say the Phillies “went crazy” on one year, $7.5. Ridiculous.
What does one have to do with the other?
“Soto just got 765M”…What does Soto have to do with Romano?..So, in your mind Soto got paid, so you think all other players will get more than expected?..
I guess you’re also suggesting you know more about players recovering from injury than the Blue Jays front office who decided to move on from Romano.
lol minor league deal
“Minor League deal”…injured relievers with negative W.A.R and near 7 ERAs aren’t as hard to find as you seem to think. I do respect Dave Dombrowski’s overall baseball knowledge but assessing relievers hasn’t always been his strongest suit.
lol
The Phillies are the most improved bullpen in baseball during Dombrowski’s tenure. Now, granted, that may be unfair because the bullpen was historically bad in the season prior to DD coming over, but your take is on DD’s tenure elsewhere. The Phillies bullpen has improved every season.
Romano’s been pretty good when healthy. He has a 147 ERA+ in his career, and pitched about 60 games a season from 21-23. Last season was a clunker, but by all accounts it was a lost cause due to injury.
Quite simply, this is a play for a reliever who, if the injury issues from 24 are behind him, is a solid ML reliever.
This is one of the worst takes I ever heard on this site. Plenty of teams would pay 7m to a former elite closer recovering from injury.
But none of them did.
One of them did. We don’t know if there were other offers, or more importantly if there would have been, but it’s hard to imagine he’s not worth the risk for a win-now team looking for bullpen depth. I guarantee Mets and Yanks both make this deal for instance.
It’s hard to imagine he’s not worth the risk for a win-now team looking for bullpen depth. I guarantee Mets and Yanks both make this deal for instance.
=========================
It might be worth the risk if you have a lot of spending money. But the Phillies are close to $300M
And maybe the NYM and NYY, but 1) they didn’t, and 2) I have no idea what the NYMs budget is.
No, they bid him up to $8.5MM
I agree in principle, but im just waiting on the 2 morons to then go out and sign an even more unlikely bounceback candidate just to save a mil or 2 and then still hv a bigger issue than they would hv with Romano
Two words, one name:
Kirby Yates.
Shapiro/Atkins threw a lot of money at him a few years ago coming off arm problems. They got burned and learned (and Jays fans were on here ecstatic at the signing).
–
As for the Phillies….
They’ve had ample time under DD to build a bullpen. They screwed up on Kimbrel; Seranthony and Alvarado were squared away….then they weren’t. Hoffman was hot for a while, then he cooled off.
Cleveland had the best bullpen in MLB last year. They had
3-4 guys making less than $1m that could have stepped in
as a closer if Clase went down – all better than anything the Phillies have to close.
The Brewers built their bullpen with youngsters as well.
No small or medium-market team is paying Romano $7m.
Hoffman’s agent is marketing him as a 4th-5th starter, that in todays MLB can start a game and pitch 3-4 innings and that’s fine. He’s not going to get $15-20m for that. But he is going to get more than the Phillies are going to want to pay for him. My guess is that DD knows he’s gone. My suggestion is that the Phillies look for new pitching coaches – the O’s (Drew French) straightened out both Seranthony and Gregory Soto late last year.
Jays got confused by the exchange rate on the option
Hey shapiro, have you told ross to do anything yet ??
Good Luck Jordan, You now have a chance to win a World Series !! ….!!
I think still reviewing cup holders…
Phils had a great bullpen last year, with a perfect balance of righty and lefty guys. The one issue, I think, is continuing to sign guys who were closers for non closer roles. They seem to get a ton of these guys.
They ended up having to move Soto and Dominguez and Alvarez never seems comfortable in his role. Kierkering Romano Straham all have closer capability and I’m sure DD is still interested in bringing back Hoffman. Just seems like the guys may not like not having defined roles.
This is exactly what Soto said. Baltimore gave Soto a more defined role, and Soto stunk even more. So I think Soto just lost it.
Excuse me…..
In Gregory Soto’s last 5 games he didn’t give up a hit or a run. I believe he had a number of similar appearances before that as well but I’m not going to look them up.
That guy was totally screwed up when he first pitched for the O’s. It took Drew French a while to work with him and get him back on track.
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They also squared away Seranthony.
Seranthony was good in Philly too. Soto is just streaky and unreliable. That’s who he is, and who he’ll always be.
I’m a huge fan of Jordan and I hate what the Jays (my team, god help me) did to him. Best of luck to him.
Cliche alert. There’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal. If the Phillies get a bounceback, fine. If they don’t, it’s pin money for the stupid-money Phils.
For what it’s worth and it’s not much, I think Romano will help the Phils. Not at his 2021-23 level, but perfectly serviceable in medium leverage situations.
While I agree with the one-year thing not being much of an issue, this pushes the Phillies that much closer to $301M/110% CBT penalty. They are at $283M and likely need a low-end #5, an outfielder and probably another RP.
They were going over that penalty regardless of this move or not.
Then it boils down the whether or not they have a budget, and how much they have left.
Middleton expressed willingness to go over 300m this year to get the right pieces. So this move is within the budget. They’re adding more as well. Their window is closing. So this will be their last splurge IMO.
Relievers are inherently fungible (a mutually interchangeable commodity). Short-term contracts are the best bet for most relievers due to their instability. This is a reasonable contract in the current market.
Relievers are mushrooms. Ok…I got it!
I’d be liking this signing a lot more if it came w a team option year, even if it were 12-13m. It’s a fine signing as is. Phillies certainly need more of the back-end variety though.
Jays FO reasoning. Soto is so worth 700M, but Romano at 8M, I dunno, that’s a lot of money.
I suspect no team knows the health of that elbow more than the Jays,
Ah yes I’m sure the Phillies didn’t look at his medicals
@stevetampa
And Atkins himself said he no reservations about the health of Romano’s elbow.
Fair points. Romano was also scheduled to return this past season, post his surgery, and didn’t. The going rate for all-star closers with no health concerns is not $7.75 million. If there was no concern whatsoever, I’m sure the Jays or any number of teams would have made an offer higher than $7.75m.
@stevetampa
By the time Romano was ready to come back the Jays fate was sealed. Having him back in the pen would have made little to no difference.
So much for in denial jays fans saying his elbow is cooked.
Just Atkins doing what he does best, being an awful GM. Making out a perfect plan in his head and then other teams jump in and actually get the work done and he’s left holding a couple glove first middle infielders and telling everyone he likes his teams chances.
How this guy still has a job is beyond me. End the pain, fire him and start from scratch
This is a good signing the Phillies need to add at least two high leverage RH RP’s. It’s a volatile position, hard to predict performance from year to year but I think Romano will bounce back – could even end up being the primary closer. Kirkering should get the first crack at it, the kid has closer stuff. Or they could try to entice the Guardians to sell high on Emmanuel Clase and offer to take Myles Straw for lesser prospects. Or same idea with St. Louis Cardinals Ryan Hesley.
Lesser prospects if Phillies take on Steven Matz.
Both jays and Phils need a closer. Phils pay what jays wouldn’t. Jays don’t like their own ?
Willing to pay Soto ( over a billion cdn lol) but can’t ink vladdy. ?
For sure Vlad will test free agency.
Rare for star FA to stay. Judge exception.
Vladdy be a met in 2026 with best buddy Juan?
To be a rock and not to roll.
Jays couldn’t match that?
Jays could have matched that before Philly had the chance it was his arb number they non tendered.
I know a lot don’t think he can’t be the closer because of last year. But as a Bluejay fans if you don’t use him in a closer role or some sort of fire put out role then you are not using him right. For three years he was one of the most reliable closers around. He excels at it. He doesn’t lose focus. He was a true bull dog on the mound. Good get for the Phills and a lose for us Bluejays fans
Start fresh in Philadelphia! Never mind all the pre pitch theatrics – just throw the ball.
Shatkins caught sleeping after missing out on Soto. Yep, this team is doing nothing this year again. Wouldn’t be surprised for contract overpays now for lesser players.
Yep start thinking on who is going to be this years IKF lol
IKF wasn’t brilliant but he was certainly a lot better than some of the INF dross we have right now. If he had continued on the trajectory he was travelling before the injury, he was looking at a 150H, 15HR, 70 RBI season. Not back for $7.5m, Better than all Jays INF not named Vlad.
Get Hoff back, 2years more money……….Lets say 11.5 per or Estevez 2yr for 10mil……Need one of them back
You don’t need a closer if you can’t take the lead.
The problem is the holes in the lineup. It’s the lineup that is the issue, not the pitching.
Both did well for most of the season, but pooped the bed in the playoffs. I agree, I’m more concerned with the lineup than the pitching on this squad, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve both.
holy overpay
Last season was brutal for Romano, but the 3 seasons before that were really, really good. I think this was a good bet to make for the Phillies.
This seemed like a feta come plea.
Truly a cheesy line. Congrats.
More front office malpractice by Shatkins.
Now Dave can head home early and relax. He loves this roster.
Whatever happened to all those people who were all happy and thrilled last year when Dombrowski traded 2 good young pitching prospects for the ‘New Closer!!!’ Estevez?
Now no one cares if or more likely when he signs somewhere else, lol.
Doesn’t really matter what reliever(s) the Phillies sign or trade for. They don’t and won’t save every game every time – they all give up runs and lose games also. Only the names change, the whining and crying when they give up a run or blow a save NEVER will.