Jordan Romano

Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Romano, Turner, Bohm

By Nick Deeds | September 13, 2025 at 4:54pm CDT

The Phillies have been without ace right-hander Zack Wheeler in their rotation since August 15, and late last month it was announced that he had been recommended for surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. Today, the Phillies revealed to reporters (including Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic) that Wheeler is set to go under the knife on September 23.

At the time of the club’s original announcement about Wheeler needing surgery, it was suggested that the procedure typically came with a 6-8 month recovery timeline. Assuming that holds true, Wheeler going under the knife later this month would mean that he could return to the Phillies’ rotation sometime in the first half of 2026. A best case scenario would seem to suggest that he’d miss the first few weeks of the regular season, with the longer end of that projected timeline getting Wheeler back on the mound a couple of weeks before the All-Star break. Of course, timelines like this are all largely hypothetical until the procedure actually occurs, and even afterwards there’s always the possibility of a setback or other developments changing the time table even further.

Still, the idea that Wheeler should be back on the mound at some point in the first half next year should surely be encouraging for fans in Philadelphia. The unquestioned ace of the club’s rotation, Wheeler has become more important to the team than ever as Ranger Suarez enters what could be the final weeks of his Phillies tenure with free agency coming up in November while Aaron Nola scuffles through a career-worst season. Cristopher Sanchez’s emergence as a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm will go a long way to helping the team get by without Wheeler to take the lead, but it nonetheless goes without saying that the sooner the 35-year-old can return to the mound, the better off the organization will be.

The club’s news on injured right-hander Jordan Romano offers less reason for optimism. Romano has been on the shelf since August 26 due to finger inflammation, and today manager Rob Thomson provided the update to reporters (including Varnes) that Romano has been feeling numbness in his middle finger and stiffness in his neck. Thomson went on to suggest that it could be a “nerve thing” that Romano is dealing with, though he did not elaborate beyond that.

Romano has had a tough season with the Phillies after signing a one-year deal this winter. He’s pitched to a brutal 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings of work this year despite solid peripherals (including a 3.65 SIERA) thanks in large part to an unbelievably low 49.0% strand rate after entering the season with a career 81.3% figure. While it’s not impossible to imagine Romano righting the ship if he can only come back healthy, the possibility of a lingering nerve problem being the cause of his inflammation would seemingly create pessimism about his ability to return this season and help the Phillies out during the postseason before he returns to free agency in November.

There’s more optimistic news to be had on the positional side of things, at least, as both Alec Bohm and Trea Turner are both making progress as they look to return from the injured list. Both players were placed on the shelf on September 8. Bohm was dealing with shoulder soreness, while Turner had been diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain. With the Phillies in the thick of the playoff race and in position to claim a bye through the Wild Card round of the postseason, getting the left side of the club’s infield back in action as soon as possible would be a massive boost. Fortunately, Varnes relays that Turner did some running and played catch today with an eye towards swinging a bat later this week, while Bohm is already set to hit off a tee today.

Phillies Release Joe Ross, Place Jordan Romano On Injured List

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | August 26, 2025 at 3:50pm CDT

The Phillies announced that they have recalled right-hander Daniel Robert and selected the contract of fellow righty Lou Trivino. In corresponding moves, righty Joe Ross has been released and Jordan Romano has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right middle finger inflammation. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported many of these details prior to the official announcement.

The Phils signed Ross to a one-year, $4MM deal in the offseason. He had missed the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injuries but had bounced back with a solid 2024 campaign. He tossed 74 innings for the Brewers as a swingman with a 3.77 earned run average.

He has been in the Philadelphia bullpen all year, apart from a brief IL stint due to back spasms, often providing the club with more than a single frame. On the whole, he has thrown 51 innings over 37 appearances with a 5.12 ERA. His 7.9% walk rate and 45.5% ground ball rate are decent figures but his 17.1% strikeout rate has been subpar.

The length provided by Ross has occasionally been useful in sparing the rest of the bullpen from greater wear and tear but that should be less of a concern going forward. On September 1st, rosters expand from 26 to 28, which will allow teams to carry 14 pitchers instead of the usual maximum of 13.

By cutting Ross today, the Phils are giving him a chance to land somewhere else. Given his salary and unimpressive results this year, he will likely clear waivers, if he hasn’t already. That will leave the Phils on the hook for the majority of what is still to be paid out. Any other club could sign Ross and would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. If he signs somewhere else before September 1st, even on a minor league deal, he would be postseason eligible with that club.

Romano was also signed to a one-year deal this offseason, his coming with an $8.5MM guarantee. His results have been far worse than Ross’s, as he has an 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. That has many Philly fans clamoring for him to be cut but there’s more reason for optimism under the hood with Romano, despite the awful ERA.

His 25.1% strikeout rate this year isn’t as good as his previous benchmark but is still above average, while his 9.1% walk rate is near par. He’s been undercut by an extremely unfortunate 49% strand rate. ERA estimators such as his 3.62 SIERA suggest he has deserved far better than his ERA. Perhaps he will get a chance to course correct, depending on how long this finger issue lasts.

As part of these moves, Trivino gets back to the big leagues. He was released by the Dodgers about a month ago and then landed a minor league deal with the Phils. Since then, he has tossed seven scoreless Triple-A innings.

His big league work hasn’t been amazing this year. Between the Giants and Dodgers, he has thrown 38 2/3 innings with a 4.42 ERA, 17.2% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 35.6% ground ball rate. His larger body of work is better but he missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons due to injury and hasn’t fully bounced back. He came into this year with a 3.86 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 47.4% ground ball rate in 284 2/3 career innings.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

Phillies Sign Jordan Romano

By Darragh McDonald | December 9, 2024 at 5:25pm CDT

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.

Blue Jays Interested In Re-Signing Jordan Romano

By Darragh McDonald | December 4, 2024 at 3:27pm CDT

A couple of weeks ago, the Blue Jays opted not to tender a contract to right-hander Jordan Romano, sending him to free agency instead of keeping him around for his final season of club control. But general manager Ross Atkins tells members of the media, including Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic, that the Jays are “interested in him and will be heavily pursuing his return, and hope that that’s a potential reality.”

Romano, 32 in April, had a strong three-year run as the closer in Toronto but is coming off a mostly lost season. From 2021 to 2023, Romano racked up 95 saves for the Jays, tossing 186 innings with a 2.37 earned run average. He had a 30.3% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 42.3% ground ball rate.

But in 2024, he was on and off the injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow. He only made 15 appearances on the year and had a bloated 6.59 ERA in that small sample, only striking out 21% of batters faced. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on that elbow in July and it was initially hoped that he could make a late-season return but that ultimately didn’t come to pass.

Romano made a salary of $7.75MM in 2024 and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for the same figure in 2025, since salaries almost never go down in the arbitration system. After Romano’s rough 2024 campaign, the Jays didn’t think it was worth betting that much on a bounceback. Presumably, they also checked in with other clubs to assess trade interest but couldn’t find any willing to both have Romano around that price point and give up something notable in return.

His health is a bit of a question mark as he hasn’t pitched since May, but Atkins says he doesn’t have any concerns going into 2025. Assuming Romano is healthy, the Jays could certainly use him, as their bullpen was a big part of their struggles this year. Toronto relievers posted a collective 4.82 ERA in 2024, a mark that was better than just the Rockies. With the club looking to rebound in 2025, a stronger bullpen will be a necessary step.

Bringing Romano back could be a part of that, though it will naturally be at a lower salary than he made last year. Kirby Yates is another former closer who had some injury problems and he signed a $4.5MM deal with the Rangers last winter. It’s not a perfect comparison since Yates was going into his age-37 season, but he had at least finished the prior season healthy. After missing much of the 2020 through 2022 seasons due to injuries, he made 61 appearances in 2023 with a 3.28 ERA. Romano will be far younger than Yates but with more recent injury troubles. Yates also signed a $5.5MM deal with the Jays going into 2021, his age-34 season, after being hurt for much of 2020. But he ended up undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing that entire season. Greg Holland was one of baseball’s top closers before missing all of 2016 recovering from Tommy John surgery, then signing a $7MM deal with the Rockies going into 2017.

Perhaps those deals suggest that Romano could earn something a bit below his 2024 salary, maybe with incentives based on his health. At that price range, just about any club could get involved. Even teams with strong bullpens can bump out the guy lowest on the pecking order, so Romano figures to have widespread interest if Atkins’ assessment of his health is correct. The Jays figure to be one of the clubs most motivated to add relief help, based on how last year went. Perhaps Romano would welcome a return since he was born and raised in Markham, just outside Toronto, and has spent his entire big league career with the Jays. However, he should have plenty of other options to consider.

Five Non-Tendered Pitchers To Keep An Eye On This Winter

By Nick Deeds | November 30, 2024 at 10:58pm CDT

Every year, MLB’s non-tender deadline sees clubs allow some of their players who remain under team control to test the open market early, whether it be due to an increasing price tag in arbitration or a need for additional space on the club’s 40-man roster. Earlier this evening, we discussed five hitters from this year’s crop of non-tendered players who could be worth keeping an eye on this winter. While none of those players can realistically be expected to follow in the footsteps of Cody Bellinger and Kyle Schwarber, who both re-established themselves as All-Star caliber players following their respective non-tenders, it wouldn’t be so shocking to see a player from this year’s crop of non-tendered arms emerge as a notable player at some point in the future.

The best player to be non-tendered last winter was right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who served as the co-ace of the Brewers rotation alongside Corbin Burnes for years but wound up missing the entire 2024 season as he rehabbed from shoulder surgery. Kevin Gausman stands out as another notable hurler who’s been non-tendered in recent memory, and the veteran right-hander has gone on to have a fabulous career after breaking out at the age of 29. Even if no player from this crop of arms reaches the heights Gausman has, finding an impactful reliever or even a quality starter in the non-tender pile is hardly unheard of. Just this past year, both Spencer Turnbull and Tim Hill went from non-tendered in November to pitching for playoff contenders in 2024. Could anyone from this year’s group of non-tenders follow in their footsteps? Without further ado, let’s take a look at five pitchers who hit free agency following last week’s non-tender deadline and could be worth keeping an eye on throughout the coming offseason. Players are listed in alphabetical order, with their age for the 2025 season in parentheses.

Kyle Finnegan (33)

Finnegan’s non-tender came as something of a shock, as the right-hander actually made his first career All-Star appearance this year. The righty has been a consistent, stable presence at the back of the Nationals’ bullpen throughout the rebuild, pitching to a 3.56 ERA (116 ERA+) overall with a 4.24 FIP and a 23.5% strikeout rate in his 290 1/3 innings of work. Finnegan’s spent much of his time with the club in the closer role as well, and has racked up 88 career saves in 109 opportunities for a conversion rate of 81%. Finnegan’s overall performance this year was roughly in line with his career norms, as he posted a 3.68 ERA and 4.24 FIP in 63 2/3 innings of work while racking up 38 saves in 43 opportunities this year.

Those frequent save opportunities over the years have increased Finnegan’s price tag in arbitration, and he was due to make $8.6MM in his final trip through the process this winter according to projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Aside from the high price tag, one other red flag that may have given the Nationals pause regarding their closer was how he wore down throughout the year. After posting an excellent 2.45 ERA and 3.98 FIP in 40 1/3 innings prior to the All-Star break, Finnegan’s final 24 appearances down the stretch saw him surrender a 5.79 ERA with a 4.71 FIP and a strikeout rate of just 16.4%. Despite that potential sign of trouble, though, Finnegan offers late-inning experience, consistent results, and an upper-90s fastball that should attract plenty of attention this winter.

Hoby Milner (34)

Left-handed relief options are always in demand, and Milner figures to receive attention on the free agent market as a southpaw with previous success in the majors if nothing else, even after the Brewers opted to non-tender him rather than pay his projected salary of $2.7MM for the 2025 season. That’s certainly a defensible decision given Milwaukee’s tight budget and Milner’s poor results this year. In 64 2/3 innings of work for the Brewers this year, Milner surrendered an ugly 4.73 ERA that was 11% worse than league average by measure of ERA+. With a heater that fails to break 90 mph, Milner hardly garners attention for his stuff, as well.

That’s not to say he couldn’t be a valuable contributor to a club’s bullpen, however. Rough as Milner’s 2024 campaign was, the underlying numbers were actually far kinder to the southpaw: He struck out a solid 23.9% of opponents while walking just 5.2%, and virtually every advanced metric was extremely bullish on the lefty’s performance this year as he posted a 3.14 FIP, a 3.08 SIERA, and a 3.15 in both xERA and xFIP. Milner also enjoyed the highest groundball rate of his career (51.9%), and may have been victimized by a shockingly low strand rate of just 58.1%. Looking at the three years Milner spent as a fixture of the Milwaukee bullpen from 2022 to 2024 paints the picture of a steady left-handed reliever who could improve plenty of bullpens around the league: in 193 2/3 innings during that time, he posted a 3.44 ERA with a 3.14 FIP overall. That track record should garner major league offers this winter, even if his lackluster season this past year may limit his earning potential.

Cal Quantrill (30)

Quantrill lands on this list by virtue of being the best bet among all non-tender candidates to make 30 big league starts in 2025. The right-hander found himself moved out of his previous organization in advance of the non-tender deadline for the second consecutive winter last week. After being designated for assignment by the Guardians in the days leading up to the deadline last year, the Rockies swung a trade to add him to their rotation. That experiment went fairly well, as Quantrill pitched to a solid if unspectacular 4.98 ERA (93 ERA+) with a 5.32 FIP. Ugly as those numbers look on paper, given the realities of pitching in Coors Field they’re generally consistent with Quantrill’s history as a roughly league average fifth starter.

The right-hander enjoyed a breakout campaign during the 2020 season that was split between Cleveland and San Diego, where he pitched to a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings while working out of the bullpen. He was used as a swing man in Cleveland the following year, and continued to dominate as he posted a 2.89 ERA (despite a pedestrian 4.07 FIP) in 149 2/3 innings of work in 2021. From 2022 onwards, he settled in as a permanent fixture of the rotation and has been a consistently average back-of-the-rotation arm with a 4.35 ERA (96 ERA+) and 4.68 FIP in 80 starts. Averaging more than 26 starts per year with a roughly league average ERA should be enough to earn Quantrill a look from a rotation-needy team this year, though it’s also possible a team could have interest in seeing if he can post stronger numbers out of the bullpen like he did earlier in his career.

Jordan Romano (32)

Romano was perhaps the non-tendered that garnered the most attention in the aftermath of last week’s non-tender deadline. A two-time All-Star, Romano has been the Blue Jays’ closer throughout the majority of their recent competitive window. From 2020 to 2023, the right-hander spun an incredible 2.29 ERA in 200 2/3 innings of work with a 30.8% strikeout rate and a 3.13 FIP. Among relievers with at least 160 innings of work during that time, Romano ranked third by ERA behind only Devin Williams and Emmanuel Clase. Unfortunately, the wheels came off completely for the righty in 2024 as he was shelled for 10 runs in 13 2/3 innings before undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery that wound up ending his season.

Terrible as Romano’s 2024 campaign was, it’s hard to imagine him not generating significant interest this winter. The right-hander was projected for a $7.75MM salary in his final trip through arbitration this winter, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him land a similar deal in free agency if multiple clubs see him as a potential buy-low solution in the ninth inning given his strong numbers and 105 career saves in 113 chances (89% conversation rate). Romano’s market naturally still figures to be hampered at least to some extent by not just his struggles in 2024 but also questions surrounding his health. While he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training and have a normal offseason following his surgery this summer, some level of trepidation from clubs is to be expected after any elbow procedure.

Patrick Sandoval (28)

Sandoval stands as both the youngest player on this list and the one most likely to find success as a mid-rotation starter or better in the big leagues at some point in the future. The left-hander was traded from the Astros to the Angels as the return for catcher Martin Maldonado back in 2018, and the southpaw was in the big leagues the following year. While it took some time for Sandoval to get settled into the majors, he found success in a half season of work out of the rotation in 2021 and managed to build upon that with a breakout season the following year. In 2022, Sandoval pitched to an excellent 2.91 ERA with a 3.09 FIP in 148 2/3 innings of work. He struck out 23.7% of opponents and combined that with an excellent 47.4% grounder rate.

Unfortunately, Sandoval’s performance has slipped since then. 2023 was a step backwards for the lefty, as he posted a solid but relatively pedestrian 4.11 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 4.18 FIP in 144 2/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate dropped to just 19.3% that year, while his walk rate skyrocketed to 11.3%. Things took a turn for the worse this year, as he was shelled to the tune of a 5.08 ERA across 16 starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery back in June. That will leave him out of action until at least the second half of 2025, and that layoff combined with Sandoval’s recent lackluster performance made the Halos’ decision to part ways with him somewhat unsurprising. Even so, with Sandoval not scheduled to hit free agency until after the 2026 season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a club snap the lefty up on a two-year deal and be glad he did if he can revert to something closer to his 2022 form once he’s back on the mound.

AL East Notes: Romano, Loaisiga, Hays, Rays

By Mark Polishuk | November 24, 2024 at 6:01pm CDT

The Blue Jays didn’t make Jordan Romano a contract offer before the closer was non-tendered this week, the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm reports. This apparent lack of interest in retaining Romano at any price (let alone his projected $7.75MM arbitration salary) probably closes the door on any chance of a reunion between Romano and the Jays, so the two-time All-Star will almost surely be pitching elsewhere in 2025. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Romano was non-tendered, given his high price tag and the uncertainty over his health situation after his injury-riddled 2024 campaign.

Romano didn’t pitch after May 29 and he underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in July. As Chisholm notes, Romano told the Toronto Star’s Mike Wilner earlier in November that he was soon going to start throwing off a mound, and “that he was feeling great” in the recovery from his surgery. While more specifics on Romano’s health are sure to emerge over the offseason, it is clear that the Jays didn’t share the reliever’s confidence in his elbow. Finding a new closer is now the latest item on Toronto’s lengthy winter to-do list, and the Jays already had a lot of work to do in fixing a bullpen that was one of baseball’s worst last season.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24

By Darragh McDonald | November 22, 2024 at 6:10pm CDT

The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Onto the transactions…

The Angels announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Patrick Sandoval, infielder Eric Wagaman, as well as outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. You can read more about those moves here.
The Astros tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
The Athletics announced that they did not tender a contract to right-hander Dany Jiménez, who was projected for a $1MM salary. He posted a 4.91 in 25 appearances for the A’s in 2024. He struck out 21.4% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.2% clip.
The Blue Jays are planning to non-tender righty Dillon Tate, per Ben Nicholson Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link). Tate was just claimed off waivers at the start of September and had a projected salary of $1.9MM. He’s a former fourth overall pick with some good numbers in his career but he missed most of 2023 due to injury and then posted a 4.66 ERA in 2024. The Jays are also non-tendering righty Jordan Romano, which you can read more about here.
The Guardians have non-tendered outfielder George Valera and right-hander Connor Gillispie, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.
The Mariners are going to non-tender outfielder Sam Haggerty, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He was limited to just eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. He was only projected for a salary of $900K but the M’s have decided to move on. They also non-tendered infielder Josh Rojas and righties Austin Voth and JT Chargois, moves that are covered with more depth here.
The Orioles plan to non-tender right-hander Jacob Webb, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). Webb was projected for a salary of $1.7MM next year. The righty tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024 with a 3.02 ERA and 24.5% strikeout rate, but an 11.4% walk rate.
The Rays announced they have non-tendered outfielder Dylan Carlson as well as left-handers Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche and Richard Lovelady. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news (X link) prior to the official announcement. Carlson once seemed like a building block in St. Louis but his offense has declined for three straight years now and he was projected for a $2.7MM salary. Alexander was projected for $2.8MM and had a 5.10 ERA this year. Poche had a solid 3.86 ERA but was projected for $3.4MM. Lovelady was designated for assignment a few days ago.
The Rangers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
The Red Sox announced that right-handers Bryan Mata and Isaiah Campbell were both non-tendered. Those two had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
The Royals tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
The Tigers announced that they have non-tendered infielder Eddys Leonard as well as right-handers Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White and Wilmer Flores. Three of those four were designated for assignment earlier this week. Flores, the lone exception, is the younger brother of the same-named Wilmer Flores of the Giants. The younger Flores was once a notable pitching prospect but was injured for most of 2024.
The Twins tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
The Yankees have non-tendered infielder Jon Berti, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). He was projected for a salary of $3.8MM. He was injured for much of the year and only got into 25 games. The Yankees also announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Tim Mayza, who was projected for a $4MM salary but had a 6.33 ERA in 2024.
The White Sox will non-tender first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, which MLBTR covered earlier today. The Sox later announced Sheets and also that they non-tendered right-hander Enyel De Los Santos as well. De Los Santos was projected for a salary of $1.7MM but posted a 5.20 ERA this year.

Blue Jays Non-Tender Jordan Romano

By Anthony Franco | November 22, 2024 at 6:02pm CDT

The Blue Jays non-tendered closer Jordan Romano, tweets Jeff Passan of ESPN. The two-time All-Star had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $7.75MM salary in his final season of arbitration. He goes directly into free agency without landing on waivers.

That lofty projection made Romano one of the more obvious high-profile candidates to be let go. His 2024 season was wrecked by injury. The 31-year-old righty pitched in 15 games, allowing 10 runs over 13 2/3 innings. In early July, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to address an impingement in his throwing elbow. That ultimately proved to be a season ender. While the Jays initially expressed hope that Romano could return in September, they fell out of the playoff race and had little reason to rush him back to action.

The Jays weren’t comfortable risking a near-$8MM salary on a rebound. Romano nevertheless becomes one of the most intriguing buy-low targets for teams looking for bullpen help. He was an elite back-end weapon between 2021-23. Romano has recorded 103 saves over the past four seasons, including consecutive 36-save performances in 2022 and ’23.

He topped 55 innings in each of the three seasons preceding this year and turned in a sub-3.00 ERA showing in each year. From 2021-23, Romano posted a 2.37 earned run average through 186 innings. He struck out more than 30% of opposing hitters against a tolerable 9.2% walk rate.

Toronto already needed to address the bullpen, which ranked 29th in the majors with a 4.82 ERA. Only the Rockies had a more troublesome relief group. Moving on from Romano, while understandable, simply adds to that urgency. The Jays also non-tendered Dillon Tate, opening a second bullpen spot. Erik Swanson and Chad Green project as the top in-house options for leverage work. GM Ross Atkins and his staff will certainly look for at least one, and quite likely multiple, back-end arms during the coming weeks.

Blue Jays Shut Down Jordan Romano For Remainder Of 2024 Season

By Mark Polishuk | September 7, 2024 at 11:01am CDT

Jordan Romano’s 2024 season is officially over, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) Friday on that Romano won’t be activated from the 60-day injured list before the regular season is out. The closer underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in early July that came with a post-procedure shutdown of period of at least six weeks. That initial timeline has now stretched into September, and while Romano has resumed throwing, “it just didn’t work out with the number of games we have left and what he is going to have to check off the list in order to get back,” Schneider said.

The news closes the book on an altogether disastrous season for the 31-year-old, who posted a 6.59 ERA over only 13 2/3 innings of Major League action. Romano began the year on the 15-day IL due to some elbow inflammation that developed in Spring Training, and simply wasn’t very effective once he made his return to the mound in mid-April. His last appearance of the season came on May 29, as he returned to the 15-day IL shortly thereafter and there was some concern that Romano had a more serious UCL-related injury before it was decided that the arthroscopic surgery was all that was required.

Schneider said that Romano will keep throwing and should be set for a normal offseason, so that at least represents some good news on the longer-term health front. However, it naturally leaves Romano as one of the many question marks the Jays face for 2025 as they figure out how to rebound from a very disappointing campaign. The Blue Jays will have to overhaul a bullpen that was one of the worst in baseball, and figuring out how to approach this overhaul is trickier since the club doesn’t exactly know what it is getting from its former closer.

Davidi suggests that the Blue Jays could even consider non-tendering Romano if the team is just too concerned about his health. This would seem like a pretty aggressive move considering how well Romano pitched from 2020-23, and the right-hander isn’t overly expensive on paper — Romano is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility, and his lack of production in 2024 means that he’ll receive a pretty minimal raise over his current $7.75MM salary. That said, the roughly $8MM Romano figures to land in 2025 salary could be put to better use on relievers who have fewer injury concerns hanging over them heading into another season. Pursuing a trade (albeit a sell-low type of trade) or a non-tender might also be viable if Toronto doesn’t plan to retain Romano once he becomes eligible for free agency.

Cubs Acquire Nate Pearson

By Mark Polishuk | July 27, 2024 at 1:33pm CDT

The Cubs have acquired right-hander Nate Pearson in a trade with the Blue Jays, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan (X link). Toronto will receive minor league outfielder Yohendrick Pinango and minor league infielder Josh Rivera in return. The Jays also placed closer Jordan Romano on the 60-day injured list.

Pearson was selected 28th overall in the 2017 draft, just one pick after the Cubs took left-hander Brendon Little (who currently pitches for the Jays). A broken arm and an oblique injury limited him to just 1 2/3 innings in 2018, but he re-emerged with a vengeance in 2019, rocketing up the minor league ladder to Triple-A Buffalo by season’s end and establishing himself as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects. MLB Pipeline and Baseball America both ranked him within the overall top 10 of their preseason prospect rankings in advance of the 2020 season, and that year saw Pearson make his MLB debut in the form of five appearances for the Jays during the pandemic-shortened campaign.

Since pitching 101 2/3 innings in the minors in 2019, Pearson has barely topped that total in terms of big league experience, with 115 2/3 frames on his resume in the Show. Pearson has posted a 5.21 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, and 11.6% walk rate in the majors, with a 15.1% homer rate contributing to that unimpressive ERA.

All but five of Pearson’s 93 big league appearances have come as a reliever, as Toronto shifted Pearson to the bullpen in an effort to keep him healthy after a number of injury setbacks. From 2020-22, Pearson had to deal with such varied issues as a flexor strain, a lat strain, mono, groin problems, and a hernia surgery, which limited his time on the mound and prevented him from any MLB action whatsoever in 2022.

Pearson has been healthy over the last two years, but his performance has been inconsistent as best, dashing the Blue Jays’ hopes that Pearson could at least become a high-leverage relief weapon. He is one of the league’s harder throwers with a fastball that averages 97.6mph, but batters have teed off that heater to the tune of a .342 average this season. Pearson’s slider has been a much more effective offering, but opposing hitters have learned to lay off the slider and chase the fastball, to great success.

Pearson recently expressed an interest in returning to a starting role, which would’ve seemingly been something the Jays would’ve been open to given their rotation and the organization’s overall uncertain future direction in the midst of an underwhelming season. Today’s trade, however, closes the door on Pearson’s Blue Jays tenure entirely, and it perhaps hints at a change in Toronto’s plans for the trade deadline. The Jays had reportedly been only planning to move rental or shorter-term players, while keeping a lot of their core in place for another run at contention in 2025.

Since Pearson is only in his first year of arbitration eligibility and is controlled through the 2026 campaign, the deal could signal the Jays’ willingness to expand their list of trade candidates, perhaps if the club is considering that some level of a rebuild is in order. Then again, it could be that the Blue Jays were open to moving Pearson simply because they no longer consider him any kind of core piece — a letdown for the franchise, given that Pearson seemed like a future cornerstone not long ago.

The Cubs are struggling through a disappointing year of their own, with a 49-56 record in comparison to Toronto’s 47-56 mark. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said earlier this week that the club is already looking ahead to 2025 in terms of potential deadline pickups, and to that end Pearson represents an interesting change-of-scenery candidate. The righty turns 28 next month, so there’s still lots of time for a second act to his career as either a reliever or starter. Between Pearson’s prospect pedigree and two years of remaining arb control, there’s some major buy-low upside for the Cubs if the right-hander is able to find his form in Wrigleyville. Peter Gammons (via X) reports that the Red Sox were also interested in Pearson, though it stands to reason that the Jays might’ve preferred to move the righty outside the AL East.

Baseball America ranks Pinango 17th among Cubs prospects, while MLB Pipeline has him 29th. The outfielder was an international signing in 2018 and he has spent the majority of his career in high-A ball, only reaching Double-A for the first time this season and hitting .223/.316/.345 with four homers in 225 PA for Double-A Tennessee. BA’s scouting report notes that the 22-year-old’s attempts to focus on adding power in 2022-23 led to diminished numbers overall, but he has shown a better approach in 2024 and posted improved hard-contact numbers and a better chase rate. Defensively, Pinango is an average defender probably best suited to left field or even first base over the long term, and the latter position would naturally put more pressure on him to deliver more at the plate.

Rivera is 23rd on Pipeline’s list but wasn’t included in Baseball America’s Cubs top 30, perhaps owing to his .169/.277/.260 slash line over 253 PA at Double-A Tennessee this season. Like Pinango, Rivera is also playing Double-A ball for the first time, and it has been a pretty quick progression since Rivera was only drafted last year, in the third round. The University of Florida product has played mostly shortstop as a pro with some second base and third base time, and Pipeline projects him as “an offensive-minded utilityman” given his raw skills at the plate and his ability to competently play multiple positions, even if he isn’t a standout in the field.

Rogers and Passan (X link) were the first to report that Pearson was heading to Chicago. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reported (via X) Pinango’s inclusion in the deal, while Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Arden Zwelling (X link) reported Rivera’s inclusion.

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