No one is saying there are plans of scrapping the energetic walk-in music for the Blue Jays’ Canadian closer, Jordan Romano.
Not yet, anyway.
That said, general manager Ross Atkins isn’t exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm at the prospect of Romano being his ninth-inning guy as the Markham, Ont., native recovers from the elbow surgery he underwent in early July.
In fact, earlier this week, the GM made it clear that based on a troubled 2024 campaign, at minimum, Romano’s status as closer is in jeopardy. At worst? Fans of the popular pitcher won’t want to hear it.
“I don’t know,” Atkins said when asked who he thought his closer was going to be in 2025. “Like, we will have some guys that are currently on our roster that have done it before and they certainly will be potentially in that role.”
Of the “guys” on the roster, Romano would be the only candidate for the critical assignment, a role that was his for the past three seasons. Chad Green is a viable late-inning arm, but no one sees him as the shut-down answer.
Obviously with Romano’s struggles in a season that both began and ended on the injury list, Atkins has no choice but to explore options, at the very least to ensure there is some much-needed depth at the crucial position. But when it comes to Romano specifically, it’s clear from Atkins’ comments that the Jays clearly will adopt a wait-and-see approach to see where the 31-year-old fits in the bullpen for next season.
Atkins made his comments on Romano on Wednesday in a session away from the cameras when he met with regular beat reporters following his podium address.
“I mean, he’s got to come back and be the pitcher (he’s been in the past),” Atkins said of Romano, who only appeared in 15 games in 2024, a crushing disappointment for the intensely competitive right hander. “I don’t want to just lay my head on the pillow and say ‘OK, that’s covered.’ I want to be open to it. Depending upon his return, depending upon how he’s feeling. But I believe he will. I believe he can.”
Depending on his return? Gulp. When pressed on the vague answer that suggested further uncertainty on Romano’s contract status — never mind his candidacy to return to his closing spot — Atkins was purposefully vague yet again.
“I’m not going to comment on contract status,” Atkins said when asked specifically whether the popular home-grown reliever, who is arbitration eligible, would return at all.
Obviously, the bullpen is a huge priority for the Jays in yet another demanding off-season for the front office. After the 2024 implosion made from a nasty mix of injuries and poor form, bullpen struggles were one of the biggest reasons the team was destined for the American League East basement, essentially from the outset.
To that end, Atkins obviously can’t just hand the job to Romano, especially until the team determines how he bounces back from surgery.
Romano would be the first to acknowledge the travails of his season that began with a spring training injury that had him on the sidelines when the season started.
Things picked up when he returned to the lineup in April, but Romano never truly got untracked and locked into that electric form that made him the go-to dude from the bullpen in the two previous campaigns.
Six weeks later, he was back on the IL. The surgery in July was to repair what the team called an impingement on his right elbow, that eventually led to the shut down of his season.
Overall, Atkins acknowledged that after watching the bullpen starkly plummet from strength to liability this past season, some form of overhaul will be needed.
But the GM also noted that placing an emphasis on injury avoidance will also be a prime focus. Yimi Garcia (25 games), Chad Green (35 games), Erik Swanson (17 games) and Romano (123 games) all spent time in the injured last and each of those pitchers were key leverage arms in 2023.
“Last year, coming off such a successful year and returning that group seemed like a very solid play,” Atkins said. “None of us expected the level of injuries that we had. You have to account for those but in addition to the performance setbacks. Then we also had injuries to players that would have been depth for us.
“We have to do a better job of avoiding injury and this year we have to be probably more aggressive on the external (additions).”
The first move was to get rid of assistant pitching coach Jeff Ware, whose primary responsibility was with the bullpen.
Could closing the door on the Canadian closer be the big one?