Rays re-sign Sergio Romo to 1-year deal

The Rays have reached agreement with Sergio Romo on a one-year deal to bring the right-handed reliever back to Tampa Bay, per a tweet from MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. The deal is worth $2.5 million and can reach $2.75 million with incentives, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman.

Romo’s 2017 was unique to him, as it was the longtime Giant’s first season of his ten-year career outside of San Francisco. Romo began the season with the Dodgers after signing a one-year contract for $3 million with them, but limped to a 6.12 ERA, giving up an astonishing seven home runs in just 25 innings of work to go along with 12 walks. 31 strikeouts in that span obviously weren’t enough to offset all of the traffic Romo allowed on the basis.

The slider-heavy Romo was then traded to Tampa Bay on July 22nd in exchange for a player to be named later or cash, and thrived for the Rays despite pitching in the notoriously tough AL East. Romo’s strikeout rate dropped a bit, but his BB/9 was sliced in half, and Romo allowed just two home runs in his 30²⁄₃ innings in a Rays uniform.

Romo is rejoining the same team but a very different-looking bullpen, with the team losing Steve Cishek and Tommy Hunter in free agency and trading away former closer Brad Boxberger. It remains possible that the Rays will subtract further from their bullpen, with closer Alex Colome a hot commodity on the trade market. Such a move would presumably line Romo up for some save opportunities if not the bulk of them; he has 84 career saves, all in a Giants uniform.