Jordan Romano’s 2024 season is officially over, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) Friday that Romano won’t be activated from the 60-day injured list before the regular season is out. The closer underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in early July that came with a post-procedure shutdown of at least six weeks. That initial timeline has now stretched into September, and while Romano has resumed throwing, “it just didn’t work out with the number of games we have left and what he is going to have to check off the list in order to get back,” Schneider said.
The news closes the book on an altogether disastrous season for the 31-year-old, who posted a 6.59 ERA over only 13 2/3 innings of Major League action. Romano began the year on the 15-day IL due to some elbow inflammation that developed in spring training and wasn’t very effective once he returned to the mound in mid-April. His last season appearance came on May 29, as he returned to the 15-day IL shortly after that. There was some concern that Romano had a more UCL-related severe injury before it was decided that arthroscopic surgery was all that was required.
Schneider said Romano would keep throwing and should be set for a normal offseason, so that at least represents some good news on the longer-term health front. However, it naturally leaves Romano as one of the many question marks the Jays face for 2025 as they figure out how to rebound from a disappointing campaign. The Blue Jays will have to overhaul a bullpen that was one of the worst in baseball, and figuring out how to approach this overhaul is trickier since the club doesn’t exactly know what it is getting from its former closer.
Davidi suggests that the Blue Jays could even consider non-tendering Romano if the team is too concerned about his health. This would seem like a pretty aggressive move considering how well Romano pitched from 2020-23, and the right-hander isn’t overly expensive on paper — Romano is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility. His lack of production in 2024 means he’ll receive a minimal raise over his current $7.75M salary. That said, the roughly $8M Romano figures to land in 2025 salary could be used better on relievers with fewer injury concerns hanging over them heading into another season. A trade (albeit a sell-low type of trade) or a non-tender might also be viable if Toronto doesn’t plan to retain Romano once he becomes eligible for free agency.