The Philadelphia Phillies entered the winter expected to make some changes after coming up short in the postseason for the third year in a row, this time it being the earliest exit in the current run of success despite their best regular season in over a decade.
To this point, the Phillies have not acquired any of the high-profile players available like they’ve become known to do in the past by creating one of the most star-studded rosters in baseball.
Because of that, Philadelphia’s roster looks largely similar today as it did when they were eliminated in a four-game domination at the hands of the New York Mets.
One group that does look different, however, is the bullpen.
Despite having one of the better units in the league during the regular season, a complete implosion in the playoffs was a huge part of the reason for elimination.
Jeff Hoffman has already departed for the Toronto Blue Jays and Carlos Estévez will likely be next.
But an under-the-radar signing early in free agency by Philadelphia could prove to make a huge difference.
Former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Phillies in early December, a deal which Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named as one of the best sneaky moves in all of free agency.
“The expectation is that he’ll be back at full strength and filling the role of closer for the Phillies by Opening Day. And getting a two-time All-Star closer for anything less than eight figures is quite rare these days,” he wrote.
Romano struggled tremendously this past season before being held out for the rest of the year, but needless to say he was not healthy during the 15 appearances he made while posting a 6.59 ERA.
The three seasons prior were borderline elite for Romano. He had two All-Star selections and a 2.37 ERA over 184 outings. The right-hander also strikes hitters out at an elite level, with 230 batters fanned over 186 innings pitched.
pihiladelphia lacked a true closer during this past year, something they now have in Romano, who had 36 saves in each of the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
If the somewhat risky contract can pay off and the veteran gets back to the old version of himself, the Phillies will have themselves one of the absolute best signings of the entire offseason.
