JC Romero, Phillies Make 3 Year Deal
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The Phillies announced Saturday that they have made a 3 year, $12 million deal with lefthanded reliever JC Romero who, in his role as setup man, was a big factor in the Phillies winning the 2007 NL Eastern Division championship and getting to post-season play for the first time in 14 years.
AP’s report for Yahoo sports recalls Romero’s acquisition by the Phillies at mid-season and spells out the terms of the 3 year deal;
The 30-year-old left-hander went 2-2 with one save and a 1.92 ERA in 74 games with the Phillies and Boston Red Sox last season. Romero had a 3.15 ERA in 23 games with Boston before being released on June 18.
He signed a minor league contract with the Phillies on June 23, and made his National League debut six days later against the New York Mets.
Romero had a 1.24 ERA in 51 games with the Phillies. He worked 15 2-3 scoreless innings in his last 20 appearances of the regular season and went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three playoff games.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to go out and test the free agent market,” Romero said. “I had a great time with the Phillies and really wanted to come back.”
The Phillies have a club option for a fourth that could bring the total value of the contract to $16.75 million, assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
“J.C. had an outstanding three months for us this year, particularly down the stretch,” Amaro said. “He was an integral part of our winning the NL East and we’re very happy we could get him signed before he hit the open market.”
Romero would continue in the role he filled after joining the Phillies last season, joining right-handers Ryan Madson and Tom Gordon and newly acquired closer Brad Lidge in the late innings.
The contract caps a big turnaround for Romero, whom the Phillies claimed off waivers in June.
Romero is 28-24 with a 4.64 ERA in nine seasons. He played for Minnesota from 1999-2005 and had his best season in 2002 when he went 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA.
It will be interesting to watch for possible chemistry to emerge between Romero and newly acquired closer Brad Lidge. Both hurlers have had their ups, downs, stigmas and traumas over the past few years culminating in their joining forces in Philadelphia for the 2008 season.
Lidge’s woes go back to the 2005 NLCS between Houston and St. Louis and Albert Pujols’ 2 out, titanic 3 run homer. Lidge, who in the 2005 regular season had saved 42 games, had a 2.29 ERA and who was particularly dominating against the Cardinals including saves in games 2 thru 4 of the NLCS, was not the same in 2006. His ERA exploded to 5.28 although he saved 32 games. He also had physical problems — both sprains and problems necessitating surgery.
Sporting News’ Gerry Fraley reports the ups and downs of Lidge’s career in Houston between mid-season 2004 through 2007;
As Houston’s manager from 2004-07, [Phil] Garner played a major role in the rise and fall of Lidge as the Astros’ closer. Garner pushed Lidge to the limit and probably beyond.
From July 16, 2004, when Garner replaced Jimy Williams, through the end of the 2005 season, Lidge had 64 saves in 70 chances and led major-league relievers in innings with 115-1/3. Lidge also had hard postseason innings after each year.
Lidge paid a price, physically and mentally.
In 2006-07, Lidge lost the bite on his slider and was not as dominating. In that span, he allowed 7.8 hits with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. In 2004-05, Lidge allowed 6.3 hits with 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Garner made the situation worse. In the last two seasons, Garner removed Lidge as the closer four times.
When a manager shows a lack of confidence in a closer, the public follows suit. The situation in Houston had become difficult for Lidge. He was surrounded by pessimism.
In addition, Lidge had postseason surgery on the right knee. The Phillies believe he will be ready for spring training. They also believe Lidge will be better off with the proverbial “change of scenery.” He needed it.
After losing the closer role earlier in the 2007 season and spending time on the DL, he reassumed the role near mid-season and put fine stats on the board in the 2nd half as reported by Yahoo sports;
Lidge was 5-3 with 19 saves in 27 chances for the Astros. He struggled to close out games but held batters to a .218 average and averaged 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
In Romero’s case, he had awesome stats; 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 appearances for the Minnesota Twins in 2002 helping them to reach the ALCS, where they were eliminated by the then Anaheim Angels. After 2003 and 2004 seasons where his stats degraded from their 2002 level, he clashed with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire while struggling in relief during 2005 season. His struggles culminated with something about 2 hit Kansas City Royals’ batsmen in late September, 2005 followed by his storming off the mound as Gardenhire emerged from the dugout to pull him, with an ensuing altercation with the manager and bench coach Steve Liddle followed by his being traded to the Angels. Romero claimed at the time that he was direspected by by Twins management.
In 2006, Romero’s ERA exploded to 6.70 and he was picked up in the off-season by the Red Sox who used him sparingly in the first half of 2007 before releasing him with the Phils picking him shortly thereafter.
Once with the Phillies, Romero seemed to have put the lowlights behind him with his sensational 2nd half, thus enabling the Phillies 3 year deal.
Relief pitching, in general, is an unpredictable, knuckleball aspect of the game. Very rarely do we find relievers or closers like a Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Dan Quisenberry, Rick Aguilera, Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner or Trevor Hoffman who string together consistent, standout performances year-in, year-out over a number seasons.
Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler spoke recently on a radio interview, particularly regarding Lidge, that having “short memories” enables hurlers to come right back out the next time and get the job done without traumatization from what happened in the previous appearance.
Here’s hoping that Romero and Lidge, age contemporaries, can help each other to develop prolonged mental toughness to overcome mistakes.
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