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Toronto Blue Jays Also Non-Tender Reliever Dillon Tate, Get Deal Done w Erik Swanson

The Blue Jays made a big move to non-tender Jordan Romano, but that wasn't the only big move they made on Friday.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Erik Swanson (50) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 3.
Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Erik Swanson (50) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 3. / Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays made a big move on Friday night, electing to non-tender longtme reliever Jordan Romano.

However, that wasn't the only move that the Jays made. They also jettisoned reliever Dillon Tate and came to a deal to avoid arbitration with reliever Erik Swanson.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet had that information on social media:

Blue Jays have non-tendered Jordan Romano, source tells me and @bnicholsonsmith (as first reported by @jeffpassan).

They also non-tendered Dillon Tate, but tendered all their remaining arbitration-eligible players.

The 30-year-old Tate threw in four games fo the Blue Jays at the end of the season, giving up two earned runs in 3.1 innings. Lifetime, he's a five-year veteran of the Baltimore Orioles and Blue Jays, going 7-14 in 190 games. He owns a 4.09 ERA.

He'll head to the free agent market now, but perhaps the Blue Jays will look to bring him back on a minor league deal later in the offseason.

As for Swanson, he's coming off a disastrous season that saw him go 2-2 with a 5.03 ERA. He was even demoted to the minor leagues, throwing in just 45 big-league games, which was a far cry from the 69 he appeared in in 2023.

A six-year veteran of the Seattle Mariners and Blue Jays, he was acquired by Toronto in a trade before the 2023 season.

MLBTradeRumors reports that Swanson's deal is for $3 million, which is slightly less than he was projected for by the site.

The Blue Jays finished last in the American League East at 74-88 this past season.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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