The Orioles have shown interest in Cardinals left-hander JoJo Romero, reports Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The O’s join the Yankees and Mariners as club connected to Romero this month.
Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is slated for free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, there’s little sense in hanging onto him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline but that path carries risks, as the Cards know. They held onto Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley going into 2025 and saw both pitchers decrease their respective trade values with poor performances. Even if Romero keeps performing, any pitcher can get hurt at any time, which is another reason to cash him in now.
Since being acquired from the Phillies in 2022, Romero has tossed 171 innings for the Cards, allowing exactly three earned runs per nine. His 23.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in that time are both pretty close to typical league averages but his 53.7% ground ball rate is quite strong. He averages around 94 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. He has recorded 12 saves and 64 holds.
Romero isn’t an overpowering bullpen arm by today’s standards but his results have been consistently solid. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $4.4MM salary next year, very affordable in the current landscape.
The Baltimore bullpen has changed a lot in the past six months. They fell out of contention this year and went into seller mode at the deadline. They flipped Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge to other clubs. In August, Félix Bautista required shoulder surgery, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 12 months. This offseason, they have re-acquired Kittredge from the Cubs and signed Helsley.
They currently have four lefty relievers on the 40-man roster, in Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Grant Wolfram and Josh Walker. Akin has had some solid years with the Orioles but had an uncharacteristic 12.3% walk rate this year. Enns is about to turn 35 and worked as a swingman in 2025 after a few years pitching in Asia. Wolfram and Walker each have fewer than 30 big league innings pitched. Romero would immediately jump to the top of that group if the O’s were able to acquire him.
The lefty relief market has been surging a bit lately. In the past two weeks, Soto, Hoby Milner, Tyler Alexander, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson and Caleb Thielbar have signed free agent deals. On the trade market, Jose A. Ferrer, Ángel Zerpa and Matt Strahm have been flipped. Free agency still features guys like Sean Newcomb, Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Andrew Chafin, Brent Suter and others. There are many theoretical trade candidates but Romero is the most obvious one.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Is this the guy from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?
I could never show interest or fandom to a grown man who goes by JoJo…
C’mon Breslow. The Sox were knee deep in lefties at seasons end and now the only one’s left are Chapman and a handful of starters. Trade for Romero because i really don’t want to see Andrew Chafin make the rounds to Fenway
Is Jojo ready to leave his home in Tucson Arizona for some California grass? (readily available all over Baltimore). If not, get back to where you once belonged, Jojo.
No but he loves those spinning lights and way out games with dizzy heights below him
We still need another LHRP to push Akin back down the pecking order, so I could get on board with this.
We need a lefty who actually gets lefties out. Akin isn’t particularly tough on LH.
Baltimore is turning into the East Coast Cardinals; O’Neill, Helsley, Kittredge and potentially Romero? Not sure they’ll get anything better than the Redbirds got from any of the above.
Jojo was a dancer in Tucson Arizona. Get back to where you belong.
Reds need to be interested.
JoJo recorded 8 saves after the deadline. If he collects around 16 more by the next deadline, has his trade chip value increased since the winter?
Sell now, or hold and develop closer potential another 4 months, while keeping saves off of long-term team control arms?
Jojo closed games, but he’s not a closer. He’s a solid value to a team who needs a quality setup lefty who stays healthy and only costs $5m.
He doesn’t have the same value for the Cardinals. We only have control over him for ’26 and we’re developing players, not retaining veterans who are good trade pieces.
Time to move on, trade for a prospect and wish Jojo the best.
Let’s not risk an injury to a good trade piece. The sooner we start to develop the prospect we get in return, the better. And we need the innings for our existing guys to develop this year.