Sources: Phillies agree to deal with Romero
The latest Phillies and baseball news from Philly.com.
Sources: Phillies agree to deal with Romero
By Matt Gelb
The Phillies will replace J.C. Romero with... J.C. Romero.
Two baseball sources confirmed Monday the lefthander will return for his fifth season in Philadelphia. The two sides have reached an agreement on a one-year contract, pending a physical.
Romero is in Puerto Rico with his family for the holidays and the physical may not take place until after Jan. 1.
CSN Philly was the first to report the deal late Sunday night.
Romero, who turns 35 in June, will likely take a significant pay cut to remain with the team. He made $4 million in 2010 and shortly after the season ended, the Phillies declined a $4.5 million option for 2011, instead paying him a $250,000 buyout.
The Phillies had found a replacement for Romero earlier in the off-season when they agreed in principle to a one-year, $1.1 million deal with Dennys Reyes. But the two sides could not finalize the contract following Reyes' physical in Philadelphia.
With the market for lefthanders dwindling, the Phillies chose the familiar one. Romero lacked control in 2010, walking 29 batters while striking out 28. He blamed nebulous mechanical problems as the culprit and still showed flashes of effectiveness, but the walks hurt more than they had in years past.
It's likely Romero will make something near what Reyes was scheduled to make. Last week, assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said the team still had Reyes' money to allocate to a lefthanded reliever even after signing Cliff Lee.
They could have held onto that money and filled the lefthanded reliever job internally with either Antonio Bastardo, Dan Meyer, Mike Zagurski or Sergio Escalona, but chose for experience.
When Romero officially re-joins the roster, the Phillies will have to make a corresponding roster move because the 40-man roster is full.
I'm not opposed to this as most people likely are. Let's be honest here: Dennys Reyes is not a drastic improvement. They might as well just bring back a familiar face, especially at a reduced price.— UncleEddie- is he bringing his steroids with him?
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They're penny pinchin' now. Romero is always good for 1 batter.- jc is cool. he's always fired up. wish i could say danys baez was fired.— notch44
- Good resigning. Romero needs to be worked back into form and the Phillies have the staff and pitchers to help Romero.— SouthPhillyDemocrat
I can't blame them. Once things shook out and there was a list of lefty relievers, he definitely looked like the best one left. I'd still like to see Bastardo get a shot in Spring Training though.- I think Romero will be ok. The last two years have been tough with the suspension and injury. He has something to prove. He bouncee back nicely with the Phillies after Boston released him 5 years ago. I'll expect the same.— EL Zorro
- Yep. Bet he comes in with a chip on his shoulder. He's smart I'll say that. Take less and play for a team stocked for the big run. He's thinking ring. — Grazman
- Hillbilly, you're right, I think that's the plan, they need more than one LH in the pen anyway, and Jamie is not due back for a year or more. haha, unbelievable. He's the baseball version of George Blanda. But Bastardo seems like one of those wild, heat-dealing lefties who needs to mature, and with the maturity comes better control. But not too much...don't want those hitters digging in.— Eephus
- need more lefties— tooltime
Fine deal for the money. Just win!!!!!— shawnmac- Amaro doing the Hokie Pokie. One step ahead,(Lee), than one step back, (Romero). Romero was/is horrible. How can you rely on a guy that walks WAY too many batters?— twpman1
- Kinda big step forward...very small step back. — rwwhit
I guess I'm OK with this, given the alternatives. But could somebody please make Romero understand that when you're in the game to pitch to one batter, it's not all right to walk him?
