PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies cleared more room on their 40-man roster Friday, when they did not tender contracts to first baseman Justin Bour and left-hander Luis Avilan before the 8 p.m. ET deadline. They now have 36 players on the roster.
Bour, 30, did not come as a surprise. He recently cleared waivers and had no place on the 40-man, especially with Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana still on the team.
Avilan, 29, posted a 3.18 ERA in 12 appearances with the Phillies after being acquired on Aug. 22 in a trade with the White Sox. He made $2.45 million last season, but the Phils are pursuing free-agent left-handers Andrew Miller and Zach Britton and others, which made Avilan expendable.
The Phillies' other arbitration-eligible players were tendered contracts: right-handers Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez, Hector Neris, Jerad Eickhoff and Luis Garcia; left-hander Adam Morgan; infielders Cesar Hernandez and Maikel Franco; and outfielder Aaron Altherr.
Garcia, 31, appeared to be on the bubble. He went 3-1 with a 6.07 ERA in 59 appearances last season. But he also made just $1.2 million and posted a 3.51 FIP. The Phillies will roll the dice to see which Garcia shows up in Spring Training, unless he is traded.
There is little risk in bringing back somebody like Garcia because arbitration contracts are not guaranteed unless the player makes the 25-man roster on Opening Day. The Phillies would pay only a fraction of a player's contract if he does not make the Opening Day roster. A player cut on or before the 16th day of Spring Training is owed 30 days of termination pay. A player cut from the 17th day through the end of Spring Training is owed 45 days of termination pay.