The San Francisco Giants weren’t going to stay completely quiet this winter. The club has reportedly re-signed reliever Sergio Romo to a two-year, $15 million deal.
Sources: Romo, #SFGiants in agreement on two-year, $15M deal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2014
Romo has played a key role in the three Giants World Championships over the past five seasons, but 2014 was perhaps the most shaky season of his career. In 58 innings, he pitched to a 3.72 ERA, despite solid totals of 59 strikeouts and 12 walks. However, a spike in home run rate caused him to put together the ugly ERA and lose the closer’s job to Santiago Casilla.
Plenty of those struggles can be attributed to a disastrous June where Romo allowed nine runs in 8 1/3 innings. He lost his closer’s job after blowing a save in Cincinnati on June 28th, and over the final three months of the year, he pitched to a 2.10 ERA in 25 2/3 innings, striking out 32 and walking five. In the Postseason, he gave up one run in seven innings, striking out eight without a walk.
Remember – this is a world where Zach Duke got $15 million over three years after one good year as a reliever. Pat Neshek just got $12.5 million guaranteed after one good half of the 2014 season. Luke Gregerson was handed $18.5 million over three years on a silver platter. Middle relievers are getting paid (even by Romo’s own team – remember the Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, and Santiago Casilla deals in recent winters?), and only guaranteeing two years to a guy who is coming off the first bad season of his career is a fine move.
