The Rockies are in agreement with veteran reliever Jordan Romano on a minor league contract, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. He’d been released by the Angels last week. The VC Sports Group client will report to the organization’s Arizona complex before being assigned to a minor league affiliate, Harding adds.
Romano signed a $2MM free agent deal with the Halos in December. It was a rebound flier on the two-time All-Star, who was coming off an ugly 8.23 ERA showing with the Phillies last year. Season-opening injuries to Robert Stephenson and Kirby Yates — plus Ben Joyce’s rehab from shoulder surgery — pushed Romano into the closer role.
Things started promisingly. Romano reeled off six straight scoreless appearances to begin the year, nailing down four saves in the process. A trip to the Bronx proved his undoing, however, as Romano allowed five runs while retiring one of nine opponents and taking two losses in that series. He rebounded with two straight scoreless outings with five strikeouts before surrendering four runs in a blowout loss in Kansas City on April 25. The Angels then designated him for assignment.
Romano wound up allowing nine runs over eight innings. He fanned 12 while recording a strong 13% swinging strike rate but issued six walks and hit a batter. His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and slider sat around 85 mph, down a tick from last season’s velocity. Both pitches were around three miles per hour harder during his peak years as one of the American League’s best closers in Toronto.
The 33-year-old has battled injuries in the interim. Romano missed time in 2023 with back inflammation and battled elbow injuries in ’24, eventually culminating in arthroscopic surgery. His 2025 season was cut short by inflammation and numbness in his right middle finger.
Colorado will take a low-risk flier to see if they can get Romano on track. The assignment to the complex indicates the Rockies will try to work out some mechanical or pitch mix tweaks before sending him back to game action.
The Rox have had a solid bullpen overall, though that’s skewed to an extent by the team using Chase Dollander behind an opener. Antonio Senzatela and Brennan Bernardino have had excellent starts to the year. The rest of the group has been up and down. Senzatela and Jimmy Herget are the only Colorado relievers who can’t be optioned.
Bro is gonna get lit up at Coors.
Watch him turn into Mason Miller Lite in the altitude…
Wouldn’t he be Coors Lite in that stadium?
Tastes great, less filling.
He’ll be throwing Silver Bullets
Romano has not been good lately maybe he needs to head overseas for a year and get things figured out again it seems to work for some guys.
Overseas works for younger guys who need reps against a slightly lesser level of play. Not for an aging vet who had serious injuries and hasn’t been the same since.
Good an angels DFA we are not going to bring back 7 times this season.
This is the end my friend
My only friend… the end.
Hey Jed you missed one!
He’s not left-handed.
Cheezy news on Romano.
I like this move because COL will not call him up unless he proves his problems have been solved over weeks or months. And that won’t be easy in Albuquerque which has an altitude almost identical to Denver, and it seems like the final score is usually 12-10. Tough assignment.
With road games in Salt Lake City and Reno.
The PCL is gnarly on pitchers.
This guy shouldn’t be allowed to torture another fan base.
Can’t wait to see the epic moonshots Romano gives up in the thin air. It should be a Sports Center highlight every time he pitches. It’s a shame he lacks any control given the live arm he has.
Calling it: Romano gets the most saves in that pen ROS.