Rockies, Jordan Romano Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies are in agreement with veteran reliever Jordan Romano on a minor league contract, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. He’d been released by the Angels last week. The VC Sports Group client will report to the organization’s Arizona complex before being assigned to a minor league affiliate, Harding adds.
Romano signed a $2MM free agent deal with the Halos in December. It was a rebound flier on the two-time All-Star, who was coming off an ugly 8.23 ERA showing with the Phillies last year. Season-opening injuries to Robert Stephenson and Kirby Yates — plus Ben Joyce’s rehab from shoulder surgery — pushed Romano into the closer role.
Things started promisingly. Romano reeled off six straight scoreless appearances to begin the year, nailing down four saves in the process. A trip to the Bronx proved his undoing, however, as Romano allowed five runs while retiring one of nine opponents and taking two losses in that series. He rebounded with two straight scoreless outings with five strikeouts before surrendering four runs in a blowout loss in Kansas City on April 25. The Angels then designated him for assignment.
Romano wound up allowing nine runs over eight innings. He fanned 12 while recording a strong 13% swinging strike rate but issued six walks and hit a batter. His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and slider sat around 85 mph, down a tick from last season’s velocity. Both pitches were around three miles per hour harder during his peak years as one of the American League’s best closers in Toronto.
The 33-year-old has battled injuries in the interim. Romano missed time in 2023 with back inflammation and battled elbow injuries in ’24, eventually culminating in arthroscopic surgery. His 2025 season was cut short by inflammation and numbness in his right middle finger.
Colorado will take a low-risk flier to see if they can get Romano on track. The assignment to the complex indicates the Rockies will try to work out some mechanical or pitch mix tweaks before sending him back to game action.
The Rox have had a solid bullpen overall, though that’s skewed to an extent by the team using Chase Dollander behind an opener. Antonio Senzatela and Brennan Bernardino have had excellent starts to the year. The rest of the group has been up and down. Senzatela and Jimmy Herget are the only Colorado relievers who can’t be optioned.
Angels Release Jordan Romano
Right-hander Jordan Romano has been released by the Angels, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment a couple of days ago. He’ll now head to the open market in search of his next opportunity.
Players with at least five years of major league service time have the right to reject outright assignments to the minor leagues, instead electing free agency while retaining their salaries. The Halos have seemingly skipped that formality and opted to release Romano. They will remain on the hook for the remainder of his $2MM salary for now. Another club could sign him and only pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Angels pay.
Any interest from other clubs would not be based on recent trends. Romano has had a tough time in the past few years. He was injured for much of the 2024 season with the Blue Jays. He signed with the Phillies last year and had awful results. The Angels tried to get a bounceback but didn’t succeed. Between those three clubs, he has tossed 64 1/3 innings since the start of 2024, allowing 8.11 earned runs per nine.
That number probably overstates how poorly Romano has pitched. His 9.3% walk rate in that time was close to average, while his strikeout rate of 24.7% was a couple of ticks better than par. An 18.1% home run to fly ball rate didn’t help. His .331 batting average on balls in play and 54.2% strand rate were both to the unfortunate side. His 5.43 FIP for that time wasn’t good but far better than his ERA. On the wildly optimistic side, Romano actually has a 3.71 SIERA in that span.
Rather than sifting for positives in recent numbers, Romano’s potential is best shown in his more distant past. From 2020 to 2023, he posted a 2.29 ERA in 200 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays. He racked up 97 saves in that time with a 30.8% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate.
He hasn’t been nearly as effective since, as mentioned. Despite some optimistic underlying data, getting back to that level will be difficult with such diminished stuff. Romano averaged 97.6 miles per hour on his four-seamer back in 2021. That number has ticked down every year since and has been at 94.5 mph so far in 2026. Similarly, his slider is more than 4 mph down from its peak.
Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images
Angels Designate Jordan Romano For Assignment, Select Joey Lucchesi
The Angels announced a series of moves before Sunday’s matchup against the Royals, the most notable of which was designating closer Jordan Romano for assignment. The club selected left-hander Joey Lucchesi to take his spot. Right-hander Shaun Anderson was also designated for assignment, and righty Jose Fermin was recalled. On the hitting side, catcher Logan O’Hoppe was placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured wrist. Sebastian Rivero had his contract selected to replace O’Hoppe.
Injuries to Ben Joyce, Robert Stephenson, and Kirby Yates thrust Romano into the closer role to begin the year. He initially excelled as the preferred 9th inning option, picking up four saves over six scoreless appearances to open the campaign. Romano permitted just two baserunners during that stretch, both coming via walk.
The wheels came off from there. Romano had a disastrous series against the Yankees that included five earned runs, two blown saves, and only one out recorded. He briefly recovered in two lower-leverage outings, then blew up for four earned runs in a blowout against the Royals on Saturday. Romano was pulled mid-inning for infielder Adam Frazier.
Romano emerged as one of the top closers in the game with the Blue Jays. He piled up 95 saves from 2021 to 2023, earning a pair of All-Star selections. Elbow injuries ruined his 2024 season, and he’s never been the same since then. Romano had an 8.23 ERA for the Phillies last year. He came to the Angels on a modest one-year, $2MM deal. His time with the team is over after just eight innings.
Lucchesi joined the organization in late March after getting released by the Giants. He ended up breaking camp with the Angels. The veteran lefty allowed a pair of earned runs over three appearances. He walked four and struck out two across 2 1/3 innings. Lucchesi was designated for assignment and elected free agency in early April, but returned to the organization on a minor league deal.
Fermin was up and down with the big league club for the majority of 2025. He put together a mid-4.00s ERA with a solid 25.7% strikeout rate across 40 appearances. Fermin has a big fastball, but control has been an issue. The righty posted a hefty 15.1% walk rate in 34 1/3 innings.
Anderson was knocked around for 11 earned runs in nine appearances out of the bullpen. The 31-year-old was similarly ineffective during his time with the club last year. He did not break camp with the team, but was in the majors before the end of March. Lucchesi will likely step into Anderson’s multi-inning role.
O’Hoppe was pulled from Saturday’s contest due to what was initially described as wrist irritation. He took a foul tip off the wrist in the seventh inning, but did stay in to finish the frame. Travis d’Arnaud replaced him in the eighth inning. The veteran d’Arnaud will likely assume the majority of the reps behind the plate, with Rivero backing him up.
Rivero appeared in 11 games for the Angels last season. He’s hit .172 in 107 MLB plate appearances. Before his brief stint with Los Angeles in 2025, Rivero hadn’t been in the big leagues since 2022 with the Royals. Kansas City signed him as an international free agent in 2015. After a slow ascent through the system, he reached the majors as a 22-year-old in 2021. Rivero hasn’t been even a league-average bat since his Rookie ball days, but he’s earned passable marks as a defender in his time as a big leaguer.
Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images
Angels Bullpen Notes: Joyce, Stephenson, Sandlin
The Angels are counting on a number of pitchers to bounce back from injuries, as they seemingly didn’t have interest in making any notable moves on the free agent front. Their bullpen consists of almost all reclamation types after the departure of Kenley Jansen and with Reid Detmers moving back to the rotation. They signed Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Brent Suter to one-year deals at $5MM or less.
Their highest-ceiling relievers are those coming back from injury. Ben Joyce throws as hard as any pitcher in MLB. It’s easy to envision him as a potential closer when he can run his fastball to a staggering 104 mph. Joyce was capped at five appearances last year before suffering a shoulder injury. He underwent season-ending surgery in May.
The flamethrowing righty threw a bullpen session on the team’s first day of camp workouts (link via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). It was his first work off a mound since the operation. Joyce and general manager Perry Minasian each said they’re uncertain whether he’ll be ready by Opening Day. It nevertheless seems he’s making good enough progress that if there is a season-opening injured list stint, it’s not an extended one. “I’d rather him miss two weeks than six months. We’re going to take our time with guys that need it and kind of see where it goes,” Minasian said.
If Joyce isn’t available, Robert Stephenson would be the presumptive favorite to close. Of course, that’s conditional on him being healthy — no small caveat given how much time he has missed over the past two seasons. Stephenson missed all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery out of Spring Training. He was out of action until last May. The veteran righty made one appearance but went back down with a nerve issue in his biceps. He missed another three months, was active for about a month, then was shut back down for the season’s final week by elbow inflammation.
Stephenson told Fletcher and other reporters on Wednesday that he learned over the offseason that he had experienced symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. It doesn’t appear he received a full-fledged TOS diagnosis, as he treated the issue with an injection plan but no surgery. Stephenson conceded he’s “a little bit behind everybody” coming into camp but expressed confidence he’ll be available for Opening Day.
Considering Joyce and Stephenson each have health questions, it comes as no surprise that first-year skipper Kurt Suzuki isn’t eager to name his closer. “I think the benefit for us is we have options and we can be flexible. But in that ninth inning, I wouldn’t put a name out there to be our closer right now,” Suzuki said this week (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). Romano and Yates each have multiple 30-save seasons on their résumés. While the Angels aren’t lacking for ninth-inning experience, both pitchers were working with diminished stuff and had rough numbers in 2025.
In one other bullpen health update, Fletcher reports that non-roster invitee Nick Sandlin underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery last October. The righty had finished the season on the injured list with the Blue Jays but the surgery had not previously been reported. Toronto moved on from Sandlin after injuries limited him to 19 appearances. He has a 3.19 ERA in 211 2/3 career innings and has a decent chance to pitch his way onto the MLB roster with a good spring. Sandlin tells Fletcher that he’s scheduled to throw his first bullpen session this weekend, which presumably sets him up to get into Cactus League games if all goes smoothly.
Angels Sign Jordan Romano
The Angels announced the signing of veteran reliever Jordan Romano to a one-year contract. It’s reportedly a $2MM guarantee for the VC Sports Group client. The Angels had five openings on the 40-man roster and are now up to 37 between this and their signing of left-hander Drew Pomeranz.
It’s a reclamation flier on a former All-Star closer. The Canadian-born Romano recorded consecutive 36-save seasons for the Blue Jays in 2022 and ’23. He went to the Midsummer Classic in both years and had a sub-3.00 earned run average each season between 2021-23. Things have gone completely off the rails over the past two seasons. Romano allowed a 6.59 ERA in 15 appearances before undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery in 2024. The Jays non-tendered him heading into his final year of arbitration.
That worked out well for him from a financial perspective. Romano had been projected for a $7.75MM arbitration salary but found an $8.5MM guarantee from the Phillies in free agency. Philadelphia was not able to get him back on track, as he surrendered an even uglier 8.23 ERA across 42 2/3 frames. He was one of three pitchers to get to 40+ innings while allowing at least eight earned runs per nine innings. Romano’s season ended in August when he was diagnosed with a middle finger injury on his throwing hand as well as stiffness in his neck.
It’s surprising to see Romano command a major league contract at all, though the $2MM salary won’t make a huge dent on the Angels’ books. Romano still has a 95-96 MPH fastball and a promising mid-80s slider. He struck out a quarter of opponents behind a solid 11.8% swinging strike rate for the Phillies. There’s still some promise in his raw stuff, but he’ll need to avoid the injuries and home run barrages that have tanked his past couple seasons.
Tonight’s signings push the Angels’ projected payroll to $172MM, according to RosterResource. They carried a $193MM payroll to begin the 2025 season. Romano should start the year in low-leverage relief, leaving the club in need of a true right-handed setup man. They’re hoping for a healthy season from Robert Stephenson, who is the favorite to replace Kenley Jansen as closer. Ben Joyce is a question mark after undergoing shoulder surgery in May. Ryan Zeferjahn, José Fermin, Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman and Cody Laweryson are among their other right-handed options. It’s a clear area of need — alongside starting pitching, an infielder, and center field — for the remainder of the offseason.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first on the signing and terms. Image courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images.
Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Romano, Turner, Bohm
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
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
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
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
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.