Philadelphia Phillies Non-Tendered Player Near Top of New Free Agent Rankings

A Philadelphia Phillies outfielder is among the best players who were non-tendered this offseason.

Sep 27, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Austin Hays (9) celebrates with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) after hitting a home run against the Washington Nationals during the eighth inning at Nationals Park. / James A. Pittman-Imagn Images

Ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies made multiple moves with the Baltimore Orioles. In one of the transactions, they acquired outfielder Austin Hays to bolster their depth.

To acquire him, relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Christian Pache were sent to the American League East contenders.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t as impactful as the team had hoped that he would be. In 80 plate appearances, he recorded a slash line of .256/.275/.397 with two home runs and five doubles, knocking in six runs.

That resulted in an OPS+ of 86.

In the postseason, things didn’t improve much. He was 3-for-15 in the NLDS against the New York Mets with one double, which certainly played a part in the Phillies making a surprising move.

Hays was non-tendered by Philadelphia, instantly making him a free agent. With the deadline for those decisions now past, the versatile outfielder is one of the best new players on the market in the opinion of Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report.

Despite the disappointing production with the Phillies, the MLB expert believes that he has a chance to land a decent deal in free agency given his recent track record coming into the 2024 campaign.

“Hays posted a 109 OPS+ and averaged 32 doubles, 18 home runs, 66 RBI and 2.7 WAR in the three years leading up to the 2024 campaign, and he was an All-Star in 2023. Still only 29 years old, he now joins the likes of Alex Verdugo, Harrison Bader, Randal Grichuk, Max Kepler and others as second-tier outfield options capable of outperforming what will likely be a modest contract.”

From 2021-2023, he had at least 16 home runs, 26 doubles an 60 RBI. That is really solid production for a player who is still in the middle of their prime.

With experience playing all three outfield spots, and above average across the board, he should have a solid market. At the very least, Hays can be the right-handed side of a platoon, but he certainly looks like someone who can handle a near-everyday role despite the struggles in Philadelphia.

It will take a little while for him to find a landing spot, as there are bigger names available that teams will pursue first. But, he should have no problem landing a deal at some point this winter and whoever does sign him could be getting quite a steal.