The Blue Jays didn’t make Jordan Romano a contract provide earlier than the nearer was non-tendered this week, the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm experiences. This obvious lack of curiosity in retaining Romano at any worth (not to mention his projected $7.75MM arbitration wage) most likely closes the door on any probability of a reunion between Romano and the Jays, so the two-time All-Star will nearly absolutely be pitching elsewhere in 2025. It wasn’t essentially a shock that Romano was non-tendered, given his excessive price ticket and the uncertainty over his well being state of affairs after his injury-riddled 2024 marketing campaign.
Romano didn’t pitch after Might 29 and he underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure on his proper elbow in July. As Chisholm notes, Romano informed the Toronto Star’s Mike Wilner earlier in November that he was quickly going to begin throwing off a mound, and “that he was feeling nice” within the restoration from his surgical procedure. Whereas extra specifics on Romano’s well being are certain to emerge over the offseason, it’s clear that the Jays didn’t share the reliever’s confidence in his elbow. Discovering a brand new nearer is now the newest merchandise on Toronto’s prolonged winter to-do listing, and the Jays already had lots of work to do in fixing a bullpen that was one in all baseball’s worst final season.
Extra from across the AL East….
- The Yankees are open to a reunion with Jonathan Loaisiga, although Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Publish experiences that the Bombers are one in all 14 groups which have proven curiosity within the reliever. Loaisiga has pitched solely 21 2/3 large league innings during the last two seasons, as elbow issues (together with a bone spur elimination surgical procedure) restricted him to 17 2/3 frames in 2023, and he tossed solely 4 innings earlier than a UCL surgical procedure introduced his 2024 season to a fast finish. Loaisiga’s process wasn’t a Tommy John process, and he was throwing from 90-foot distances for scouts earlier this week, with the Yankees among the many golf equipment with an evaluator readily available. All 163 of Loaisiga’s MLB video games have are available in a Yankees uniform, so the group has loads of familiarity with the right-hander’s means when wholesome, and likewise the within scoop on his well being standing. Signing Loaisiga wouldn’t be costly for the Yankees or any group that may provide him a contract this winter, making him an fascinating buy-low candidate on the bullpen market.
- Austin Hays was traded from the Orioles to the Phillies previous to the commerce deadline, however now that Hays is a free agent after being non-tendered, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com thinks there’s an opportunity Hays might return to Baltimore. Hays had an injury-plagued 2024 season that included a extreme kidney an infection that emerged throughout his time in Philadelphia, and he wound up with a below-average 98 wRC+ from a .255/.303/.396 slash line in 255 whole plate appearances. The outfielder was considerably higher each offensively and defensively through the 2021-23 seasons when he wholesome, and Baltimore has a transparent want for right-handed hitting outfielders (and right-handed hitting normally).
- It stays to be seen if the Rays will ever once more play at Tropicana Subject, however for at the least the 2025 season, the membership will play at George M. Steinbrenner Subject in Tampa. The transfer will influence the Rays’ roster building plans, as some adjustment is of course obligatory just by dint of the truth that the Rays will now be enjoying outdoor through the Florida summer season fairly than inside the confines of a domed stadium. With a number of rainouts now a probability, president of baseball operations Erik Neander is wanting so as to add multi-inning pitching depth at each the Main and minor league ranges. As Neander informed Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Instances, “it’s…ensuring that we will defend our arms and maneuver the roster in a method the place if a recreation will get disrupted and delayed after two innings and also you lose a starter, and then you definately’ve obtained to cowl 4 or 5 [innings] because it comes again earlier than you’ll be able to go to the bullpen, that you’ve the flexibility to maneuver everyday as wanted, to cowl that and do it in a method that’s liable for the well-being of the group.” Extra pitching can even be wanted because the Stein is anticipated to be a way more hitter-friendly atmosphere than the Trop, although the Rays’ personal hitters may also profit from the state of affairs.
