Now that the dust has settled from Major League Baseball's non-tender deadline last week, there are more than 60 new free agents available this offseason. The Philadelphia Phillies added to that pool by non-tendering outfielder Austin Hays, admitting defeat after the disappointing trade deadline decision.
With the Phillies front office expected to make big changes and revamp the roster this winter, are there any recently non-tendered players who president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general managers Sam Fuld and Preston Mattingly should take a look at?
While a lot of the players recently cut loose by their previous employers have defects or concerns surrounding them, there are a handful of intriguing options the Phillies could take a pass at.
3 recently non-tendered players the Phillies should immediately be targeting
The Phillies have some obvious needs to fill before training camp rolls around in February, so here are three non-tendered players they should consider at least kicking the tires on.
Tim Mayza, LHP
With the bullpen an obvious need this offseason after the departure of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez to free agency, a project like left-hander Tim Mayza could present a low-risk, high-reward free agent signing after he was non-tendered by the New York Yankees.
His 2024 numbers are ugly; there's no way around it. He was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays halfway through the season after running an 8.03 ERA and 1.95 WHIP through 24 2/3 innings in a dumpster of a bullpen. He was picked up by the Yankees and added to their roster halfway through August. The 32-year-old posted a 4.00 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 18 innings in the Bronx.
Something was obviously amiss for Mayza this year. His shockingly bad season came on the heels of a successful five-year run in the Blue Jays bullpen, during which time he was a reliable lefty who could get both left- and right-handed hitters out on the regular. From 2018 through 2023, he had a 3.24 ERA over 242 innings. He was even coming off a career-best 2023 season in which he was lights out, posting a 1.52 ERA in a career-high 53 1/3 innings.
Since his debut with the Blue Jays in 2017, the former 12th-round pick has a 20-9 record, four saves and 85 holds with a 3.88 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 301 2/3 innings over 367 appearances. With more than a strikeout per inning over his career and a 52.8 percent ground ball rate, Mayza seems like the perfect non-tender free agent to try out in 2025.
Jordan Romano, RHP
Another Blue Jays castoff, Jordan Romano, is one of the handful of experienced closers now on the free agent market. The 31-year-old right-hander is coming off an injury-plagued 2024 season.
The Blue Jays front office, with their future hanging in the balance, didn't feel like they had enough margin for error to afford his $7.75 million projected arbitration salary if Romano couldn't bounce back from arthroscopic surgery to repair an impingement in his right elbow in early July.
After beginning the season on the 15-day IL, Romano only pitched in 15 games for Toronto in 2024, with a 6.59 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. Despite the unsightly numbers, he still picked up eight saves in nine opportunities.
Before his disappointing 2024, the Toronto-born Blue Jays draft pick had appeared in 216 games out of the bullpen with a 2.67 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, with a 30.5 percent strikeout rate. Overall, in his six MLB seasons, he has 105 saves in 118 chances.
Romano is as fierce a competitor as they come and would fit right in with the Phillies' current roster. The only question here is if his velocity is back after the procedure. His four-seam fastball sat at 96.4 mph in his limited 2024 season. He'll likely have to prove to interested teams that he's healthy before inking a deal this winter.
Kyle Finnegan, RHP
If Romano isn't healthy enough for the Phillies' liking, another non-tendered reliever should be on the radar this offseason, and it's one who they're familiar with. Right-hander Kyle Finnegan, who was cut loose by the NL East rival Washington Nationals, is an ideal bullpen target.
Finnegan earned $5.1 million in 2024 and was projected for a raise to $8.6 million in arbitration this winter. The 33-year-old has performed consistently and stayed healthy since making his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2020 — he has just one trip to the 10-day injured list, in 2022.
After his debut campaign, in which he threw 24 1/3 innings, he has racked up at least 63 innings in each of the last four seasons. With a career 3.56 ERA and 1.32 WHIP, he has registered 88 saves in 109 chances.
This past season, the former Athletics sixth-round draft pick earned his first All-Star invitation, posting a 3.68 ERA (110 ERA+) and a 1.34 WHIP en route to grabbing 38 saves for a Nationals team that won just 71 games.
Despite striking out 60 batters in his 63 2/3 innings of work for an 8.48 K/9 (still a higher rate than deadline acquisition Estévez), Finnegan's four-seamer sat in the 92nd percentile at 97.2 mph this season. He also mixes in a splitter and an occasional slider.
The Phillies were interested in bringing in Finnegan at the trade deadline, so why not now when all it will take is cold hard cash?