Let the make-over begin. The Phillies denied left-handed reliever J.C. Romero’s club option for 2011 worth #4.5 million.
The news doesn’t come to much of a surprise to the Twitter world. Romero has been a walk machine the past two seasons, never getting back to his dominant 2007 and 2008 forms.
In 2010, Romero was 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in 60 appearances. He walked 29 batters and struck out 28 in 36 2/3 innings of relief. As a lefty specialist, walk totals like that couldn’t happen.
It was the reason Romero only pitched one inning in two relief stints in the post season, none coming in the NLCS loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Will the Phillies attempt to bring Romero back for cheaper? It will be interesting.
Or did they like what they saw in left-hander Antonio Bastardo? Bastardo got one more appearance than Romero in the post-season but also had a strong end of the regular season.
Either way, the Phillies are already planning to field a different team next season in hopes to win a fifth straight division title and earn their way back to the World Series.
TTB 