Philadelphia Phillies walk away from pitcher J.C. Romero's contract
J.C. Romero will probably have to find another ball club to pitch for after the Philadelphia Phillies decided to not exercise a $4.5 million club option for the 2011 season. He’ll still get a $250,000
buyout, and he’ll become a free agent free to sign with any team in MLB.
Romero went 4-4 with a 2.75 ERA in 81 appearances in 2008, and in that year’s World Series he was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. One of his wins was in the series clinching game that gave Philadelphia their first
World Series victory since 1980.
He began to have trouble in 2009, starting the season with a 50-game suspension for violating the league’s policy against performance-enhancing substances. He appeared in 21 games before sustaining a season
ending elbow injury. In 2010 he went 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in 60 appearances, for a total of just under 37 innings.
"He had some struggles this year and last year a little bit, health-wise and command-wise," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr on Tuesday. "He's not someone that's not in the picture for us.
This doesn't preclude us from having a further relationship with him, but at least at this time, his $4.5 million salary isn't warranted at this stage of the game."
Philadelphia is left with only three left handed pitchers which could open the door for Romero to return to the club should he be unable to sign with another club.
"I think we can still have discussions with him," Amaro said. "Without question."
Romero himself believes that he has a few more years left in him after he had successful surgery on his elbow.
"I've got a brand new arm," he said. "That's the way it goes. I know next season is going to be a very good season for me. I feel like everything was going back to normal toward the end of this season.
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