Phillies non-tender Austin Hays, agrees to deals with 2, tender contracts for 5 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Friday was the deadline for teams to decide whether to offer contracts to their players eligible for salary arbitration and the Phillies opted not to do so with outfielder Austin Hays, who immediately becomes a free agent.
It wasn’t a difficult decision, as Hays was set to make about $6 million through the arbitration process and wasn’t on the field enough to show the Phillies he was worth that price tag or an everyday job.
The Phils acquired Hays from Baltimore four days before the 2024 trade deadline for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, hoping he would be a solid platoon partner for Brandon Marsh in left field at worst and an everyday player at best. Two weeks later he suffered a hamstring strain, missed two weeks, was slow to return and soon discovered he was battling a kidney infection that would sideline him for most of September.
Hays returned at the very end of the regular season, starting a game against Mets left-hander Sean Manaea in Game 3 of the NLDS, but his timing was off and his short Phillies career ended with a whimper.
“Sometimes you have to adjust things and keep an open mind. I know for myself, if you ask about the trade deadline, for me it really hurts that Austin Hays didn’t have a good two months,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said a week after the end of the season. “We thought – I take responsibility – that Austin Hays would really help us. And against the Mets? Left-handed throwing, the right fit. He gets injured, he gets sick and after that he just wasn’t the same player. That.”
Two of the Phillies’ top priorities this offseason — probably their top two — are infield help and overall lineup improvement. In an ideal free agent market, both could be accomplished with the same move. But after Juan Soto, there isn’t a clear-cut outfielder who could substantially change the Phillies’ lineup with his presence alone. Thus the need to be creative in the trade market and explore potentially tough choices regarding players like Alec Bohm, Ranger Suarez, Brandon Marsh and others.
Of the other seven Phillies eligible for arbitration, two agreed to deals Friday and the other five were offered contracts. Jose Ruiz avoided arbitration with a one-year contract worth $1.225 million, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs also agreed to a one-year contract.
Bohm, Suarez, Marsh, Bryson Stott and Edmundo Sosa were offered contracts. Teams and players must exchange arbitration figures by mid-January. The hearings will take place in February unless an agreement is reached earlier. If the case goes to arbitration, a panel will rule in favor of the player or team.
The Phillies avoided arbitration last season with all of their eligible players except Bohm. They offered him $3.4 million, he countered at $4 million and won.
Players are eligible for arbitration once they have accrued at least three years of major league service, but less than six years, and do not yet have a contract for the following season.
