Phillies outright 6, including Herrera, Knapp

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies continue to clear room on the 40-man roster, and it could mean that Odúbel Herrera and Andrew Knapp have played their final games for the organization.

The team announced Friday night that Herrera, Knapp, Travis Jankowski, Ronald Torreyes, JD Hammer and Ramón Rosso have been outrighted and elected free agency. Herrera, Knapp, Jankowski and Torreyes were four of Philadelphia's nine players eligible for salary arbitration.

The moves do not completely sever ties with them. The Phillies could re-sign any of them at a reduced rate, albeit most likely on a Minor League deal.

Of course, that only happens if the players cannot get better deals elsewhere.

Earlier this week, the Phils exercised a $2.5 million buyout on an $11.5 million club option for Herrera. They retained his rights because he remained eligible for salary arbitration, but outrighting him on Friday essentially meant the Phillies non-tendered him less than a month before the Dec. 2 tender deadline.

The same holds true for Knapp, Torreyes and Jankowski.

Herrera batted .260 with a .726 OPS in 492 plate appearances in his first season back with the team following his May 2019 arrest in Atlantic City, N.J., on a charge of simple assault of his girlfriend. The charge was dismissed, but Major League Baseball suspended Herrera 85 games for violating the league’s domestic abuse policy. He did not play in '20.

Knapp batted .152 with a .429 OPS in 159 plate appearances. He is a well-respected person in the clubhouse, but the Phillies could not justify giving him a raise from his $1.1 million salary in 2021, especially with the play of other catchers in the organization, like Rafael Marchan and Logan O’Hoppe.

Still, teams need catching depth, so it would not be out of the question to see Knapp back. The same holds true for Torreyes, who is adored by Phillies manager Joe Girardi, and Jankowski, who grew up and still lives in Lancaster, Pa.

Both Torreyes and Jankowski came to camp last spring as non-roster invitees on Minor League contracts.

Philadelphia has five other players still eligible for salary arbitration: left-hander José Alvarado; right-handers Seranthony Domínguez and Zach Eflin; first baseman Rhys Hoskins; and outfielder Roman Quinn. Alvarado, Domínguez, Eflin and Hoskins are locks to be tendered deals. It is unclear what happens with Quinn, who had surgery on May 29 to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon.