4 Underperforming players the Philadelphia Phillies should non-tender

By December 1, the Philadelphia Phillies roster will look very different, and that will be a good thing.

December 1 is the non-tender deadline when teams can cut players from the 40-man roster who have yet to reach six years of service time.

After the mistakes they made last offseason, Dave Dombrowski likely won’t be gentle. Re-signing Vince Velasquez turned out to be a costly mistake that Dombrowski won’t repeat with this year’s non-tender candidates.

Really, the only Phillies who shouldn’t be non-tendered are recent knee-surgery recipient Zach Eflin and Rhys Hoskins, obviously. Everyone else is probably fair game.

Here are three, maybe four players who deserve to be sent into free agency.

The Phillies should non-tender Odubel Herrera

Aside from Bryce Harper, the Phillies’ outfield was weak in 2021. Odubel Herrera and Andrew McCutchen didn’t cut it defensively, though McCutchen had one of his best offensive seasons in years.

2021 was the final year of Herrera’s five-year, $30.5 million contract. The Phillies have two club options on this deal, so they could pick up his $11.5 million option, pay his $2.5 million buyout, or go to arbitration for approximately the same amount as his club option.

Herrera has largely underperformed his contract. He had a mediocre 39 games in 2019 before violating MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse policy. He was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the season and was one of the first players to also be banned from any potential postseason games, a departure from past DV cases.

The Phillies designated Herrera for assignment in January 2020. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, but the pandemic shuttered the minor league season.

Herrera was invited to 2021 spring training and ultimately returned to the big leagues in late April when Adam Haseley was placed on the restricted list. Over 124 games, he hit .260/.310/.416 with a .726 OPS, 13 home runs, 27 doubles, a pair of triples, 59 runs scored, 51 RBI, and six stolen bases.

Overall, Herrera’s season was fine, but fine won’t get the Phillies to October. Between the domestic violence and the fact that he’s simply not worth the projected $11.6 million, the Phillies should non-tender Herrera.