Phillies sign former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano to one-year deal

With Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez both free agents this offseason, Romano fills a Phillies bullpen need for a high-leverage right-hander.

Jordan Romano, 31, spent six seasons with the Blue Jays and had pitched in Toronto’s closer role since 2021.Read moreBruce Kluckhohn / AP

by Lochlahn March

Published Dec. 9, 2024, 1:57 p.m. ET

DALLAS — The Phillies checked off one item on their winter meetings to-do list with the addition of a right-handed reliever.

The Phillies signed free-agent pitcher Jordan Romano to a one-year deal, the team announced Monday. The contract has an $8.5 million base salary, according to a source. Romano, 31, spent six seasons with the Blue Jays and had pitched in Toronto’s closer role since 2021.

“We think he’s one of the best back-end, high-leverage guys in baseball,” Dave Dombrowski said in the Phillies' suite at the meetings.

With Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez both free agents this offseason, Romano fills a Phillies bullpen need for a late-inning right-hander. Phillies manager Rob Thomson traditionally has not named a closer, and the organization did not promise Romano any particular role other than high-leverage innings.

“I think we utilize our bullpen, as of right now, just the way we have been,” Thomson said.

Romano has a career 2.90 ERA and 105 saves, but the two-time All-Star struggled with injuries in 2024. He posted a 6.59 ERA in just 13⅔ innings. Romano has not pitched at the major-league level since May, and underwent surgery in July to repair a right-elbow impingement.

“I don’t figure him as a 13-inning guy. I figure him as being a guy who’s a full-fledged reliever, full-time,” Dombrowski said. “ … In his case, I would think he’s going to get plenty of closing opportunities.”

Romano passed a physical in Philadelphia on Monday, and the Phillies are confident that he can reclaim his form from a year ago. Dombrowski said that Romano is currently touching the mid-90s, and the organization reviewed film of his throwing sessions as part of the process.

“We do have a lot of research on him, background, the whole bit,” Dombrowski said. “He’s actually been throwing for a while, working out for a while, so he was pretty much full-bore.”

Romano has a two-pitch mix of a slider and four-seam fastball, which averaged 96.4 mph this season. Historically, he is a strikeout pitcher who generates a high amount of whiff and chase.

However, during his abbreviated 2024 season, Romano’s fastball in particular was hit hard. His whiff rate on the pitch fell from 32.3% in 2023 to 6.5%.

The Phillies contacted Romano almost immediately after he was non-tendered by the Blue Jays in November, according to Dombrowski. He was projected to make $7.75 million in arbitration with Toronto, but the Jays hoped by non-tendering the right-hander, they could bring him back for less in free agency.

“He was kind of what we stood for in how he went about his business, the teammate that he was, the intensity he competed with,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Monday. “I wish him nothing but the best really, and I think we definitely wanted to pursue bringing him back, and it didn’t work out.”

On the Phillies, Romano joins fellow righty Orion Kerkering and lefties Matt Strahm and José Alvarado as the current high-leverage options heading into 2025. Dombrowski said at the general managers’ meetings in November that he didn’t believe the Phillies needed five arms in that group.

While he didn’t completely discount future additions to the bullpen, Dombrowski is also currently willing to stand pat.

“We feel comfortable where we are,” he said. “I’m not saying we won’t add. I never know what’s going to go on. I never know that. But we’re comfortable where we are right now. If we feel we can help our club in other ways, if there’s something out there that makes it so much better, we’re still open to that. But we feel good where we are in our bullpen.”