SF Giants sign Sergio Romo to a minor-league deal for farewell appearance
The SF Giants have signed fan-favorite and longtime reliever Sergio Romo to a minor-league contract, according to a report by Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Per Baggarly, Romo will not compete for a spot on the big-league pitching staff. Instead, the Giants legend, who won three World Series with the team from 2008-2016, recording the final outs in their 2014 title run, hopes to appear in one final game at Oracle Park when the Giants host the Athletics in the final series of the preseason.
SF Giants closer Sergio Romo reacts to the crowd during the World Series victory parade at Market Street. (2012)
Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
“When they approached me, it was, ‘You never know, you may catch lightning in a bottle,'” Romo told Baggarly. “And I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’ll be honest with you guys, I haven’t done anything since September.’ There’s no lightning in this bottle, trust me. You’re not going to find that. But I know I’ll try to compete my ass off when I’m out there. I might actually be nervous for a change.”
Romo is one of the longest-tenured major leaguers around. He has appeared in each of the past 15 seasons, recording a 3.21 ERA in 821 appearances with 789 strikeouts against just 179 walks in 722.2 innings pitched. He also racked up 137 career saves.
Yet, while Romo has played for eight teams over the course of his career (Giants, Twins, Rays, A's, Dodgers, Mariners, Marlins, and Blue Jays), the Giants remain the lone organization that Romo played for in more than two seasons.
Romo was drafted by the Giants in the 28th round out of Colorado Mesa University way back in 2005. Romo had some early success as a starter in the lower minor leagues, but really began to flourish when he was moved to the bullpen in 2007. At High-A that year, Romo recorded 106 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 66.1 innings pitched with an elite 1.36 ERA. That rare combination of elite strikeout stuff with quality control proved a promising sign of things to come.
Romo made his MLB debut with the Giants in June of 2008, and quickly established himself as one of the team's best setup options. Over the next four seasons, Romo was one of the best relievers in baseball despite never serving as the team's closer. During the Giants' 2010 World Series run, Romo headlined an elite bullpen that featured him, Brian Wilson, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, and Guillermo Mota.
After Wilson's star faded, though, the Giants needed a new closer. Casilla appeared to take control of the job early in 2012, converting his first 20 save attempts with a 1.59 ERA. However, by July, Casilla was struggling with the pressures of closing. Worried about the back of the bullpen, Giants manager Bruce Bochy gave Romo his first real shot to close.
He ran with it.
Romo finished the season with a 1.79 ERA in 69 appearances with 14 saves, but his most impressive performance would come over the course of the postseason. Romo surrendered just four hits, a walk, and one run over 10.1 innings pitched during the 2012 playoffs. He recorded four saves, three of which came in the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. In one of the biggest World Series upsets this century, the Giants swept a star-studded Tigers roster. Romo recorded the final out of the series, striking out Miguel Cabrera by sneaking a fastball by him on the outside corner.
Romo was the last remaining player on the Opening Day roster of the Giants 2010 World Series team, which started the franchise's dynastic run, still playing in the majors. Now that it seems Romo is on the verge of hanging up his cleats, it's worth remembering some of the greatest moments from that era. (Romo's strikeout of Cabrera is at the 0:47 mark in the video below).
Romo had another great season closing for the Giants in 2013, but he began to waver in 2014. As his fastball, which never had elite velocity, began to sit in the upper-80s and low-90s even more consistently, his unique sidearm delivery and reliance on one of the greatest sliders in league history made it difficult for him to get left-handed hitters out.
Romo was effective once he returned to a setup role with the Giants, but despite posting a 2.58 ERA across his nine seasons with the team, he would never record an ERA south of 3.48 in a season after he left.
According to Baggarly, former Giants general manager Bobby Evans suggested the move to president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who had already been thinking about a similar move. Zaidi worked the deal out with Romo's agent (Barry Meister), and now the 40-year-old is heading to Arizona to begin working with the team.
Sergio Romo is one of the defining SF Giants of the team's three championship runs from 2010-2014. Romo has had an incredibly successful big-league career and, after inking a minor-league deal with the Giants on Thursday, he is ready to finish things off where they started back at Oracle Park.
*A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Romo was the last active MLB player on the 2010 SF Giants. However, Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner is still active.
