It sure sounds like Blue Jays fans hoping for Jordan Romano reunion will be disappointed

Friday's non-tender deadline was an eventful one for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans. As the 8 p.m. ET deadline approached, word broke that closer Jordan Romano was to be non-tendered. ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to break the news about an hour before the deadline.

Not that it came as a big surprise; plenty of speculation, suggestions and "sources" indicated that that was the route the front office would take. But alas, seeing it officially announced must have felt like a dagger for some fans, at least those still hanging in there.

Blue Jays fans who have been watching this iteration of the team over the last five or six years have seen the roster they once knew and had grown to love gradually stripped apart. Friday's official departure of the team's closer was just another piece pulled from the puzzle and cast aside.

The chances of Jordan Romano re-signing with the Blue Jays seem unlikely

Before the hometown boy Romano, although no longer really a boy at 31 years old, became a free agent, there had been hope that the move to non-tender the right-hander would lead to a quick re-signing for less than the $7.75M he was expected to make in arbitration this winter.

It was a fool's hope, apparently.

Unfortunately for Blue Jays fans, it appears that a reunion with Romano isn't in the cards. Sportnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith doesn't see it as a real possibility.

"While it’s technically possible that he re-signs in Toronto," Nicholson-Smith wrote in his take on the Blue Jays' Friday night activities. "The front office has already had the chance to speak with his representatives about possible deals for 2025 and the sides clearly didn’t see eye to eye. With that in mind, some in the industry are quick to predict he’ll sign elsewhere, leaving the Blue Jays for the first time since his brief stint with the Rangers as a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2019."

If you need a minute to compose yourself, it's understandable. Take all the time you need.

If this is indeed the last we have seen of Romano in a Blue Jays uniform, we can look back fondly on the 2014 10th-round draft pick's career in Toronto. He made his debut in 2019 and gave fans more than we could have ever expected after being a Rule 5 returnee that spring.

The Markham, Ontario, native compiled a spectacular 2.90 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 229 2/3 innings during his Blue Jays career. He set a career-high with 36 saves in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023, finishing with 105 in 118 opportunities since nabbing his first save in 2020.

Despite how his 2024 season — and likely his Blue Jays tenure — ended, with a 6.59 ERA in just 13 2/3 innings, Romano will forever be remembered as one of the team's top closers. He sits third on the Blue Jays' all-time saves list behind legends Tom Henke and Duane Ward. His 2.90 ERA ranks fifth among Blue Jays relievers with a minimum of 200 innings pitched, while his 29.9 percent strikeout rate ranks first in that group.

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