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The decision to sever ties with Romano hardly comes as a surprise after general manager Ross Atkins telegraphed the move during his year-end media availability with local reporters in early October. When asked who his closer would be for 2025, Atkins didn’t have an answer, which indicated Romano was on his way out.

Even so, the non-tender served as another reminder of how cold-blooded professional sports can be.

From 2020-23, Romano was one of the top relievers in the American League. He trailed only Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase   while blowing 10 fewer opportunities. Only three relievers had more strikeouts, and just two pitched more innings.

There were long stretches during those four years when Romano was the only redeeming quality of the Jays ’pen. He almost single-handedly kept the group afloat during the early stages of 2021, until mid-season trades for Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards increased the club’s depth. There was similar success each of the following two years.

Romano also happened to be one of the AL’s top bargains during that strong run. The only time he made seven figures was in 2024, when he avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $4.5-million (U.S.) deal. His reward for outplaying his career earnings was to get cut at the first sign of turmoil.

By non-tendering Romano, the Jays are admitting they don’t believe he’ll get back to his old form after an injury-plagued season. He was limited to 13 2/3 innings this year because of an elbow injury that required surgery. The native of Markham told the Star’s Mike Wilner earlier this month that he was feeling great and expected to soon resume throwing off a mound.

Romano’s departure will make Atkins’ task of overhauling the relief corps even more daunting.

The Jays have veteran Chad Green at the back end of the bullpen and then a lot of question marks. Right-hander Erik Swanson, who avoided arbitration on Friday by signing a $3-million deal, is coming off a season in which he posted a 5.05 ERA. None of Tommy Nance, Brendon Little, Ryan Burr and Zach Pop has a long track record of success.

The upside here for the Jays is  additional financial flexibility. Team president Mark Shapiro has previously said next year’s payroll is expected to remain  similar   to 2024. They were already expected to have about $40 million to spend this off-season, and now that number will tick up even higher. The top available free-agent relievers include Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez, Kenley Jansen and Clay Holmes.

The Jays and Romano technically could still be reunited, but a source told the Star that no offer was made prior to Friday’s deadline, so there’s little reason to believe one will be coming in the weeks ahead. Romano is free to talk with all 30 teams and will likely be seeking a one-year incentive-laden deal with an opportunity to re-enter the marketplace next fall. 

Without having access to Romano’s medicals it’s impossible to properly critique the Jays’ decision. If Romano struggles to get healthy or experiences a drop on his upper-90s fastball, this will have been a smart move. If Romano bounces back, it’s a needless blow to an already weak bullpen that will be difficult to fix without much prospect capital to offer in trades.

What should be far more certain is that Romano deserved better.

His injury-plagued 2024 campaign aside, the 10th-round pick from the 2014 draft pitched his heart out across four seasons and earned roughly $6.5 million while doing so. That worked out to $62,000 per save — which might be a lot of money for you and me, but it’s pennies on the dollar for big-league closers.

Then again, baseball players are supposed to be paid for what they’ll do in the future, not for what they did in the past. Atkins and company are betting the Romano of old won’t return in 2025. They better be right. If not, this off-season just got a lot more challenging for no good reason.