Minnesota Twins: 5 options to strengthen the bullpen
By Josh Ejnes
Sergio Romo
It’s not likely that Sergio Romo will return to his peak Giants form anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that the veteran should be totally discounted. Romo still has something left in the tank, and he’s an intriguing relief option who could help the Twins in the short term.
Romo is not a power pitcher, so the fact that he’ll be 36 next year shouldn’t be a major issue for prospective teams. Over the last few years he’s shown that he’s fairly durable, and he’s failed to 50+ IP only once since 2012.
Romo has seen regression in some areas of his game, but his slider, which is his most used pitch, is still very effective. Over the years the pitch hasn’t lost movement, and opposing batters only slug .380 when it’s thrown.
Despite the fact that he doesn’t fit the typical fireballer mold Romo could actually be a viable, if not ideal, option to close games out for the Twins. Romo has a fair amount of experience in the closer role, and last year he was often used by the Rays in high leverage situations late in games.
His performance in this role wasn’t all-star level, but he certainly wasn’t a liability and he’d be an improvement over most of the late innings options currently on the Twins roster.
Romo made $2.5 million last year and likely won’t ask for more than that in 2019, so adding him wouldn’t stop the Twins from going after another reliever or two to fill out the pen.