Phillies non-tender Franco, Hernandez
The Philadelphia Phillies announced that third baseman Maikel Franco and second baseman Cesar Hernandez were not tendered contracts for the 2020 season, making both players free agents.
Both players had spent their entire careers to date in Philadelphia.
Franco, once pegged as the third baseman of the future for the franchise, slowly fell out of favor over the past few seasons. He's coming off a rough 2019 season that saw him get optioned to Triple-A for the first time in four years amid an August slump. The 27-year-old slashed .234/.297/.409 with 17 homers and 56 RBIs across 123 games in the majors.
Hernandez, 29, was the Phillies' primary second baseman last year. In 161 games he slashed .279/.333/.408 with 14 homers, 71 RBIs, and nine steals, while also collecting six defensive runs saved.
The Phillies' six remaining arbitration-eligible players - pitchers Jose Alvarez, Adam Morgan, Zach Eflin, Hector Neris, and Vince Velasquez, and catcher J.T. Realmuto - were all tendered contracts for 2020. Additionally, the team avoided arbitration with Andrew Knapp after signing the catcher to a one-year deal.