Ricky Romero: A Tale of Two Seasons
One of the few pleasant surprises for the Jays in 2009 was the emergence of their young pitching. Injuries and departures opened up spots for many young arms in the system and they delivered admirably – only great performances from our kids saved us from being a last place team. While efforts from Scott Richmond, Marc Rzepczynski, and Brett Cecil were certainly commendable, perhaps no other rookie pitcher performed as well for us as a certain Ricky Romero.
Ricky Romero was drafted in 2005 in the first round by former Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi. He was taken prior to Troy Tulowitzki, who has developed into star with the Colorado Rockies. Tulowitzki’s stardom caused controversy when it was suggested that Ricciardi made a poor draft choice, especially because Russ Adams – the apparent shortstop of the future – was a failure defensively and lost his ability to hit well, forcing him back to the minor leagues. In 2007, while Tulowitzki was having a 24 home run season in Colorado, Romero was toiling away in the minor leagues and looking more like a bust every single day.
Then 2009 came. Romero struggled with his command early in Spring Training and appeared to be on a direct road to AAA Las Vegas. However after some training sessions with former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, he righted the ship and made the big club after only one AAA start. He started with a flourish, winning two of his first three starts to the tune of a 1.71 ERA. Unfortunately, he was placed on the disabled list shortly after that start with an oblique strain he suffered sneezing while he was dancing to rap music. He lost his first two starts back, in late May, but proceeded to post seven straight quality starts (5-1) through the middle of July.
On July 17, Ricky Romero hit a wall.
He got hammered for five earned runs in Boston in under five innings, and was never as effective after that. At times he pitched serviceably over the remaineder of the season, but the Ricky Romero who looked like a legitimate #2 starter was gone. He went a pedestrian 6-5 the rest of the way with an ERA of 5.40 over 86.2 innings. Yuck. He made a few good starts, but otherwise looked exhauseted as hius velocity dropped and his command deserted him entirely. Up until the wall he was a fron runner for Rookie of the Year. In the balloting at the end of the season, he did not receive a single vote. He pitched about 30 more innings than any other season in his professional career and the fact that they were major league innings made them that much more stressful. Romero simply ran out of gas. Which brings us to a very important question. Which Romero is the real deal? The #2 starter or the Quad-A swingman?
This question becomes even more critical when one considers that Roy Halladay may well be leaving the Jays giving Romero the role of de facto ace of the staff. If Romero can keep his strong form throughout the yaer, the Jays won’t be spectacular in 2010, but okay. If not, the Jays are about to have a problem. A major problem.
Rios Claim Liberates Jays
Yesterday, the Toronto Blue Jays allowed Alex Rios to go to the Chicago White Sox after they claimed him on waivers. They did not receive anything in return for Rios which has drawn some criticism. However, even though no players were directly acquired for Rios, the move may benefit the Jays much more than anyone would think.
Sending Rios to the White Sox forced them to assume the bulk of his contract, worth up to over $72 million through 2015. Rios has averaged 16 HR and 79 RBI per 162 games. Those are fine numbers, but not worthy of the contract that Rios was given. He may perform slightly better in a hitters’ park and better lineup in Chicago, but this was a worthy sacrifice. Rios, at times, seems disinterested and often had mental lapses on the field. He has tremendous talent, but the Jays simply tired of waiting for him to blossom.
Meanwhile, top rpospect Travis Snider has been terrorizing the AAA Pacific Coast League with a 1.063 OPS over 43 games. To avoid him becoming a Super Two player, he will be held in Vegas for the next week or two (sorry Bethany). In the mean time, Joe Inglett and Jose Bautista will platoon in right field.
The addition of Snider and whatever bat we can get for the money that is saved could be enough to put us over the top in 2010 and beyond. The money can be spent on a power-hitting designated hitter, preferably right handed, to round out our lineup. A portion of the money could also be used to fund a Roy Halladay extension. Keeping Halladay is paramount to any success the Blue Jays will have in the foreseeable future.
Even though, the loss of Rios hurts in the short term, the principle of addition by subtraction applies. Hopefully, the Jays can use the money saved wisely, and improve the team instead of overpaying an underperformer.
Hume’s Jays Bullpen
Hello Jays fans!
I have been on a blogging hiatus for months due to personal reasons, but now I am ready to return because the keyboard is mightier than the sword in Jays land (and more useful). I was over at Blogspot, but now I am moving the latest incarnation of the blog to MLBlogs, a blogging site specifically for readers like you, MLB fans. I will be posting on a regular basis throught the rest of 2009, so come here to enjoy, fresh and insightful thinking on Canada’s team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
No gain for Jays in early Doc trade
Much has been made this week about Roy Halladay’s refusal to sign an extension in Toronto. He has said that he wants to test the market after his contract expires in 2010, and given the current state of disarray the ballclub is in I can’t say that I blame him. Doc is a gamer, he wants to win, and so he should. However, if the team assembles as expected in 2010 and avoids the injury bug (eight pitchers on the DL this year), we can certainly contend. The 27-14 start we had with our makeshift roster may have been inflated somewhat by the fact that the bulk of the games were against the paltry AL Central; but despite that, I feel that the fact our roster was patched together indicates what we can do with the whole thing in place. Wells and Rios should also produce more at the plate next year (is there anywhere to go but up?). If they can add a legitimate power bat, such as Matt Holliday or Vladimir Guerrero, I believe that our team could definitely contend, especially with the expected improvement of the pitching staff.
However, this cannot be done without Halladay anchoring the rotation. Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball today, the best the Jays have ever had, and potentially the best of the decade. At this pace he will also be a Hall-of-Famer. Only Pedro Martinez, Lefty Grove and Whitey Ford have as many wins as Halladay and twice as many wins as losses. Two are in the Hall-of-Fame and the other (Martinez) will be. Bottom line, he is irreplaceable. Trading Halladay now, would amount to waving the white flag for 2010, eight months before the season starts. There is another option for the Jays however – potentially trading him in 2010.
In order to see how that would benefit the Jays we need to observe the most comparable trade in recent history.
At last year’s deadline, the Cleveland Indians traded ace C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for four players: top hitting prospect Matt LaPorta, left-hander Zach Jackson, right-hander Rob Bryson and a PTBNL who turned out to be outfielder Michael Brantley. Here is what each of these players brings to the table, courtesy of ScoutingBook.com.
LaPorta: He might have been better off being drafted by an AL team in the first place. Now that he’s an Indian instead of a Brewer though, he’ll soon have a chance to settle in as a DH for the next 20 years. LaPorta should produce big numbers in MLB in the near future.
Jackson: A bust. Once a top prospect for Toronto, he now casts as a long-reliever or emergency starter with Milwaukee.
Bryson: A promising right-hander with strikeout stuff, Bryson was buried a little too deep in the Brewers’ system until the orbit of CC Sabathia pulled him out of Milwaukee and into Cleveland. A flamethrower with a 96mph fastball and an electric if erratic slider, Bryson put up an 84:26 K:BB ratio in the 2008 Sally League last year, and should find better traction in the shallower Indians’ system.
He might be best off moving to the bullpen, where he’d have a better shot at the big leagues, sooner. If he remains a starter, he’ll need to show that he can get through a lineup more than twice with his snappy pitches, or add a quality change, and soon.
Brantley: gap hitter with good overall athletic ability, he has one of the best batting eyes in the minors, and has shown flashes of plus speed in the minors so far. In AA Huntsville last season, Brantley hit from the leadoff spot most of the time, recording a .319 average and logging 28 stolen bases in 36 attempts. He’s played all three outfield positions and also a little first base. His floor seems to be as a multitalented fourth outfielder, but if he shows he can maintain his high OBP as pitching improves, could fit into the Indians roster as a poor man’s Grady Sizemore come 2010.
There you have it, a top hitting prospect (#30 in 2009 Baseball Prospectus), a slightly above average starter who projects more as a dominating reliever (think Phil Hughes, or Joba) and a versatile outfielder who would make a super-sub at worst, but more likely a reasonably productive outfielder (.295-12-60-30+, a nice leadoff man) in the Majors, like B.J. Upton, but with contact and on-base ability instead of power.
Not a bad haul for Cleveland in exchange for an inconsistent ace, which was only going to Milwaukee for two months anyway.
Comparing Doc (left) & CC:
Starts: 274, 275
Wins: 142, 125
Win %: .673, .615
ERA: 3.46, 3.66
WHIP: 1.20, 1.24
K/9: 6.50, 7.47
BB/9: 2.03, 2.82
H/9: 8.76, 8.32
HR/9: 0.74, 0.80
K: BB: 3.20, 2.65
P/IP: 14.60, 15.81
Halladay wins more, has a better ERA, better command, keeps the ball in the park more, lasts longer and is more efficient. What more could you want in an ace. We saw what Sabathia was worth for two months. Would Halladay then not be worth more? Plan on trading him in 2010, and scrap it if the Jays are in the hunt.
Note to the Jays: Don’t panic, you have time. Trading him now is premature and pointless. All you are getting is less time with the best.
A-Hume
Recent Comments