The Angels have released catcher Austin Romine, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. Sam Blum of the Athletic tweets that the veteran backstop triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal. That left the Angels to decide whether to select him onto the 40-man roster or grant him his release.
Romine is one of a handful of veterans who have three automatic opt-out dates under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement. Players who qualified for major league free agency at the end of last season — based on having six-plus years of big league service — who signed a minor league deal during the winter had opt-out possibilities on each of April 2 (five days before Opening Day), May 1 and June 1. Romine forewent his first two opt-out chances but triggered the final provision.
The 33-year-old will now head back out onto the open market in search of a new opportunity. As a catcher who has appeared in parts of 11 big league seasons, he shouldn’t have much trouble finding another minor league job elsewhere. A longtime backup with the Yankees, Romine has suited up with the Tigers, Cubs and Angels since leaving the Bronx. He’s a career .238/.276/.357 hitter over 437 MLB games.
Romine appeared in ten games with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake this season, hitting .273/.368/.394 with a homer in 39 trips to the plate. He also saw action in three big league contests as a designated COVID-19 substitute when the Angels lost both Max Stassi and Kurt Suzuki to the virus list last month. Romine was returned to the minors when that duo made it back onto the field, and Los Angeles will continue with the Stassi – Suzuki pairing.
Please releae me, let me go
A good career, 11 years
Tell the grand kids
Buy an S
Do you guys repeatedly just scan the pages of MLB transactions to make sure you don’t miss something? I totally respect that effort level
Do u repeatedly search the chat looking for them and their comments? Totally respect even more that effort.. lmao
Pirates could have used him.
This still could, Perez is done for the year Romine would immediately become catcher #1.
Romine lettuce…
Now that’s a Romine they will always have a chance to recall.
clip, I would like to see the Yankees give him a try. He certainly could do better than Higgy, all due respect. Wouldn’t want anyone on here to start foaming at the mouth, as some tend to do.i thought he was always clutch. Yankees would have kept him, But at the time he wanted the starting job and multiple millions of dollars which the Yankees would not have done, they keep their hands tightly on Hals wallet.
Doc, that’s true, they did, and I wouldn’t be opposed to a MiLB deal to see how he’s hitting in now. I don’t think his defense is as good as Higgy’s though, but that’s just at face value, without a deep analytical dive.
Always liked Romine, man. He was a good catcher. I had high hopes with Higgy’s ST that he would hit a little better. I didn’t buy into the 10HRs in a month, but figured he would be above average.
Anyway, if everyone else produces, catching can be a black hole part of the time. And Trevino is taking full advantage of his opportunity. My opinion is that if Rortvedt can hit at all, and Trevino levels out even where he’s at, it will be Trevino/Rortvedt next season.
Trevino has been above average on offense and elite defensively. Rortvedt is supposed to be a defensive catcher with 15-20HR LH pop. Perfect complement to Trevino.
For this year, I really wish they would just get Contreras and let him alternate DH, rest, Catcher. That gives Trevino 2/3 games catching, keeps Stanton (& others) resting & rotating through DH, & gives some much needed offense behind the plate.
@DR2020, I understand the sentiment, but there’s little difference between Romine and Higashioka. Neither can hit, which is why they’re BUCs. Romine is a career 70 OPS+ hitter. Higashioka is at 60, but Higgy is sitting at 77 the prior three years to Romine’s 55. Higgy is regarded as a better framer at this stage, although both offensively and defensively he’s been off this season, yet it’s basically only a couple dozen games. You don’t cut Higgy to replace him with Romine, who would have to learn the current pitching staff midstream. There’s almost no upside and lots of potential downside.
Why does Higashioka get the BUC role with the Yankees and Romine doesn’t, considering Romine once had that role? Cost and control. Romine got a $4.1MM deal with the Tigers once he could be a free agent. He busted (BUCs usually do when playing time increases) but then got a $1.5MM deal with the Cubs. That’s $6.6MM over two seasons compared to a combined total of $1.1M for Higgy. Bye bye Romine, hello Higgy. Instead of trying to get the most money, Romine’s agent would be better off marketing him as an a decent, low-cost BUC. Don’t look for another $1.5MM deal next off season. Take an 800K guaranteed deal as a BUC, otherwise he might find himself locked out again, bouncing between minors and majors, and team to team.
BTW The Yankees developed SIX eventual MLB catchers, all of whom were in their system at the same time. They ranged from a two-time Allstar in Sanchez, to a full-time regular in Cervelli, to four others who served as useful BUCs, such as Romine, and others who were traded for full-time starting pitchers, starting position players, and impact relievers. That’s a streak few organizations can match. Higgy is the last of those six and he was the least heralded. That well is now dry, although looks like Cashman is trying to drill a new well based on recent picks before Higgy can exit.
I understand your points, but with all due respect advanced stats don’t always tell the whole story. I watched Romine every game and one thing he did that was good that won’t show up in the stats, as he was clutch. He came through in big spots with runners on so I think for that reason alone he’s worth taking a flier on, and seeing how it would work out ,it wouldn’t cost much money probably ,which would be very satisfying to Hal.
I’m not being Pollyanna, I’m not saying it’ll solve all the Yankees problems, merely that it might help and it’s worth taking a gamble on. Are there other options out there that might be better of course but whether or not the yanks would be willing to spend the money on it is debatable. And of course it does not preclude them from doing other things which I hope they will address like centerfield for example
Hey clipper, I like that idea you’ve proposed. I just don’t think the Yankees are going to spring for whatever salary Contreras would want.
But I know Cashman loves making deals at the trade deadline because whoever he might pick up ,will cost him less than half of what they would usually get,due to the fact that more than half the season is over already. But it’s also a gamble because you only have a short amount of time to make deals and you might end up getting nothing which is worth it happened as well.
And I agree with you we can deal with a black hole at catcher if the other positions are doing their job but the problem is there a bunch of black holes there as well such as hicks and Gallo. But if they address one or both of those positions and catching won’t be a problem at all. They are doing a great job with the pitching staff after all
Mike Sciocia would have played him 130 games this season.
…and Scioscia refused to give Cron opportunities over Pujols. Cron is now raking. Scioscia had some quirks.
Prov! How are you, my friend? I hope you’re doing well there in the Great State of TN!
Syndergaard struggled bad last game, man. Has he been that…hittable all season to this point? He just didn’t seem to have it last night, anyway. Well, good luck in the next game, we had a few key plays break our way early…
He’s not the same pitcher. He’s getting by on guile and control. His peripherals have not looked good and it’s likely he’ll have bad games which will bloat his ERA.
Hey Clipper – I am good. The humidity kicked in this week here in Music City. I much prefer winter since leaving California. My kid is home from college for the summer so that’s always a blessing. Can’t believe I have a college junior. Hope you’re doing well too.
Thor did not have it at all. He has been a little hot and cold. There’s a lot of talk about how the Angels need decent middle infielders, etc, which we do. But I still believe this pitching staff can’t get us through or even to the post season as it stands right now. We had a light schedule in April. May was a tougher schedule and we went 13-15. June is even more challenging so I’m concerned about where we will stand come the ASB. I sound like a broken record and I know I will get criticized for saying it again, but I would like to see a trade of Adell for some pitching. Adell isn’t ready to help now and we need the pitching now if this is our year to compete.
The politics and money of the game. Old school manager and flashy owner.. yeah that’s where Pujols was going go get paid and played.
Even Scioscia would not have asked him to sacrifice with one out. Stuff like that is all Maddon.
Cron is benefiting from playing at Coors. His road numbers look worse than Adell’s numbers
angelsfan4life – Where do you see the numbers for Cron that are worse than Adell away from Coors Field? I can’t find them. Here is his current slash line:
mlb.com/player/c-j-cron-543068
His numbers would have to be unreal at Coors Field in order to average out where he’s at for the season right now in total.
1.135 OPS home
.660 OPS away
I’d say that’s a significant difference
Yep, that’s a significant difference.
Mets should grab him to back up Nido, and send Mazeika back to Syracuse.
He’ll they should grab him to replace Nido. Good game yesterday aside, he’s been a below replacement level player his whole career.
Austin Romine, Rob Brantly, Ron Tingley, Phil Roof, and Bob Montgomery…5 of my “go to guys” when playing “backup catcher trivia” great for long drives, pregame entertainment, etc…
I don’t remember any of those players being very good even as a backup.
By todays standards they’d be starting on a lot of teams
Ron Tingley was one of the best batting practice home run hitters of all time. I believe at one point he had the longest HR hit at Camden Yards…in BP of course.
Romine was solid for the Yanks. I really was hoping he was going to flourish in Detroit when he finally got his opportunity to catch FT. He was always an excellent backup catcher.
Anyway, good career, lots of experience, and achieved what most only dream of doing. With as thin as the catching market is he should get a shot somewhere. Wish him well.
Yankees clipper, Yankees
I suspect he’s not done. He appears to have had a June 1 opt out, which he triggered. Like lefty relievers, backup catchers always seem to have a landing spot.
Remember when Mike Scioscia loved Jeff Mathis?
Yeah. Thanks for those memories ha ha.
And he also loved Jeff Davanon, and Robb Quinlan!!
Festive Happy Flag!!
Maybe he still loves him. It’s just matured.
Next step after playing is tv colour man for mlb team , where all backup catchers end up
Color
No, colour.
You’re both wrong….analyst. Does that make the two of you feel better? WHO CARES?
Tigers should let Haase go and bring Romine back. Liked him in his one year in detroit.
Angels have not had a good history of catchers who could hit. Who is the best catcher-hitter in Halos history? Bengie Molina, Lance Parrish? Certainly more Angel catchers have been defensive-oriented throughout their history. They have never had a catcher anywhere close to a Buster Posey, Pudge Rodriguez, Johnny Bench or Carlton Fisk. I wonder if it has been a long standing preference organizationally throughout the years to prioritize defense behind the dish.
Downing ‘79. That’s all I got.
Pirates!