The Phillies officially walked away from the trade deadline acquisition who was supposed to bolster their offense Friday when they informed Austin Hays they will not tender him a contract before the non-tender deadline, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
By doing so, Hays, 29, officially becomes a free agent without first having to clear waivers.
The Phillies acquired Hays from Baltimore in July, just before the deadline, in exchange for Seranthony Dominguez and Cristian Pache. The Phillies had hoped Hays would become an everyday leftfielder for them, allowing them to platoon Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas in centerfield.
It never came to pass. Hays battled injury and illness while with the Phillies and only made 80 plate appearances. He slashed .256/.275/.397 in that time.
If Hays doesn't re-sign here, we have a new all-time leader for most career #Phillies PAs without a walk (non-pitcher division).
Surpasses Bunny, Conny, Wally, and Nippy, among others. https://t.co/39hdwSxdyp pic.twitter.com/XraHxgnNeY
He missed time with a strained hamstring and later a kidney infection.
The Phillies were hoping that a change of scenery and a renewed opportunity to play every day would rejuvenate Hays, who was an All-Star in 2023.
That never happened.
The Phillies have made it no secret that they are in the market for outfield upgrades this offseason, which was a telling enough sign that Hays was not going to be offered a contract to stick around.
The only reason the Phillies didn't non-tender Hays prior to Friday is sometimes teams are able to find a trading partner for potential non-tender candidates before the deadline passes, meaning the Phillies may have been looking to see if there was any value to trading him before non-tendering him. Nothing came to fruition.
Phillies fans had to deal with Whit Merrifield and Austin Hays this year, we deserve Juan Soto as a reward
For all the good moves Dave Dombrowski has made since becoming the president of baseball operations for the Phillies, there's no question Hays was his biggest swing and miss, because it was glaringly apparent that the Phillies needed an outfield upgrade at the deadline, and Hays was who he chose to acquire.
The Phillies still have to make non-tender decisions on several other players, but all should be tendered a contract. The list includes Marsh, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Ranger Suarez, Edmundo Sosa, Garrett Stubbs and Jose Ruiz.
Only Stubbs' name has popped up in some places as a possible non-tender, but with the dearth of free agent catchers available and the fact that he has a minor league option remaining, makes him attractive to keep, even if he gets beaten out for the backup job by, say, Rafael Marchan.
