Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is scheduled to hit free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, it doesn’t make much sense to keep him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline, but that path comes with risks, as the Cards know. They held on Erik Fedde And Ryan Helsley entered 2025 and saw both pitchers lower their respective trade values with poor performances. Even if Romero continues to perform, any pitcher can get injured at any time, which is another reason to cash in on him now.
Since being acquired from the Phillies in 2022, Romero has pitched 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 fairly close to typical league averages, but his 53.7% groundball rate is quite strong. He averages about 94 miles per hour with his four-sifter and sinker, while also combining a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. He has 12 saves and 64 holds to his name.
Romero isn’t an overwhelming bullpen arm by today’s standards, but his results have been consistently solid. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him with a $4.4 million 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 turned around Gregory Soto, Seranthony Dominguez And Andrew Kittredge to other clubs. In August, Felix Bautista required shoulder surgery, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 12 months. This offseason, they re-acquired Kittredge from the Cubs and signed Helsley.
They currently have four lefty relievers on the 40-man roster Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Grant Wolfram And Josh Walker. Akin has had some solid years with the Orioles, but had an unusual 12.3% walk rate this year. Enns is about to turn 35 and was working as a swingman in 2025 after pitching in Asia for a few years. Wolfram and Walker have each thrown fewer than 30 big league innings. Romero would immediately jump to the top of that group if the O’s were able to acquire him.
The market for left-wing aid has been on a bit of a boom lately. In the past two weeks, Soto, Hobby Milner, Tyler Alexander, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson And Caleb Thielbar have signed free agent deals. On the trading market Jose A. Ferrer, Angel Zerpa And Matt Strahm have been turned around. Free Agency still features guys like Sean Newcomb, Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Andreas Chafin, Brent Suter and others. There are many theoretical trade candidates, but Romero is the most obvious.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
#Orioles #interested #JoJo #Romero