5 non-tendered players Phillies should consider signing
By Matt Rappa
The Phillies should consider signing these five non-tendered players.
Dozens of arbitration-eligible players across Major League Baseball were non-tendered, or released, ahead of Wednesday evening’s deadline.
The Phillies opted to tender all seven of their arbitration-eligible players, and only two of them — Rhys Hoskins and Vince Velasquez — remain unsigned to guaranteed 2021 deals and could head to an arbitration hearing if an agreement is not reached by mid-January.
Of course, the Phillies’ offseason to-do list is far from resolved, as the team still has several holes to fill in order to round out the roster in time for spring training in a couple of months. Here are five players who were non-tendered by other teams who the Phillies should consider signing.
5. A.J. Cole, right-handed reliever
Set to turn 29 next month, A.J. Cole could be an affordable option for the Phillies to start revamping their bullpen that had a season to forget in 2020.
The Toronto Blue Jays opted to not pay the six-year veteran this offseason, after a strong 2020 season in which he went 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, and a 20-9 strikeouts-to-walks ratio spanning 24 appearances and 23 1/3 innings.
Cole finished seven games, one of which came against the Phillies for his third career save and just the second since his rookie season in 2015 with the Washington Nationals.
The Florida native not only showed promise in 2020, but also in 2019 with the Cleveland Indians (3-1, 3.81 ERA, 25 games) and the latter apart of the 2018 season with the New York Yankees (3-1, 4.26 ERA, 28 games).
The former fourth-round pick may not be the most elite reliever in the major leagues, but he surely would be a much-needed upgrade to the Phillies bullpen.