The Philadelphia Phillies came into the offseason in need of a lefty in the bullpen. They had a deal with free agent Dennys Reyes, but that wound up falling through, so in the end they decided to stick with what's familiar, re-signing J.C. Romero.
Terms of Romero's contract aren't yet known, but the Phillies declined a $4.5 million 2011 option earlier in the offseason. It's expected that this will be a one-year contract in the low seven figures.
The 34-year-old Romero was signed by the Phillies as a free agent in June 2007 and has remained with the team ever since, posting a 2.60 ERA over 213 appearances and 148.2 innings. While over the past two years he's walked more batters than he's struck out, he is a lefty specialist, and he's held lefties to a .215 average over his career with a .292 slugging percentage and a .603 OPS. Not particularly effective against righties, he can be exposed, but in the right spots he can still be helpful.
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