Less than a day after watching the Braves complete their World Series run, the Phillies officially began the arduous task of tinkering with the roster in advance of a potentially busy winter.
The club on Wednesday announced it declined 2022 options on outfielders Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera. McCutchen would have made $15 million next season and Herrera $11.5 million. Instead, the club bought out the two deals for a combined $5.5 million.
Herrera is eligible for salary arbitration, but it's unlikely the club tenders him a contract by the December 2 deadline. He'll then become a free agent. McCutchen is not eligible for arbitration and is now a free agent.
McCutchen, 35, hit 27 homers to go along with 80 RBIs in 2021. He suffered a torn ACL in 2019 and has never quite been the same player, either defensively or on the bases.
Far from done
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) November 3, 2021
Herrera, 29, hit .260 for the Phils in 2021. He inked a five-year, $30.5 million deal with the organization following the 2016 season, but he never lived up to the hype and served an 85-game suspension in 2019 for violating Major League Baseball's policy against domestic abuse. He returned to the big league club in 2021, but only after multiple other options in the outfield faltered.
Additional roster moves will happen over the coming days as the Phillies clear out their injured list. JoJo Romero, Zach Eflin, Rhys Hoskins, and Roman Quinn all need to rejoin the 40-man roster.
