What Happened to Ricky Romero

Watching the Yankees vs. Blue Jays this past weekend made me wonder what had happened to Blue Jays pitcher Rickey Romero. Romero was touted as being one of the best young starters in the game when he came up with the Blue Jays in 2009. Romero showed constant improvement with each season following his call up.

Romero posted a 13-9 record and a 4.30 ERA in 2009, 14-9 record and 3.73 ERA with 3 complete games and 1 shutout in 2010 and an even better 2011 with a 15-11 record with a career best 2.92 ERA with 4 complete games and 2 shutouts as an American League All-Star selection. Based on those first three seasons, hopes were high on the left-handed Romero. But the wheels seemed to come off of the proverbial bus.

In 2012 Romero seemed to have regressed with a 9-14 record with a 5.77 ERA. In 2013, Romero seemed to hit rock bottom by starting the season in the minors. When he was finally called up, Romero put up two lackluster starts and was once again demoted to the minors. Romero went 5-8 with a 5.78 ERA in 22 starts with the Buffalo Bisons of the AAA International League. Romero was called up in September pitching twice in relief.

Romero seemed to not have done enough this Spring Training to warrant making the trip up from Dunedin. On March 19, 2014 Romero was sent down to Minor League camp and is currently on the roster for the 2014 Buffalo Bisons. What I find telling is that Romero is not on the 40-man roster for the Toronto Blue Jays.

This makes his road back to the majors that much more difficult. In order for Romero to be promoted to Toronto while not being on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays would have to make room for him by waiving someone on the current 40-man roster. I'm not sure if the Blue Jays are willing to make that kind of choice based on the way Romero is pitching. This might mean a longer stay in the minors for Romero. For more on the 40-man roster, click on the article The 40-Man Roster: How Does It Work? From the Brew Crew blog page from January 4, 2009.

I would think that the best situation for Romero would be a change of scenery with a new organization. It seems that with Romero being signed through 2015 and with a 2016 $13.1 million dollar team option with $600k buyout might not be part of the Blue Jays organization past 2015. We'll have to wait and see what transpires.

Hopefully Romero can bounce back and make his way back to the majors.

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco

For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Ricky Romero's Career Major League Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Ricky Romero's Career Minor League Statistics from Buffalo Bisons website from MiLB.com