2017 Dodgers In Review: RP Sergio Romo

	IP	K%	BB%	HR/9	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WAR
MLB (LA)	25.0	28.7	11.1	2.52	6.12	5.76	3.97	-0.3
MLB (TB)	30.2	24.1	6.0	0.59	1.47	2.96	4.20	0.6

What Happened In 2017: Struggled with the Dodgers before being DFA’d and traded to Tampa Bay.

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When Sergio Romo signed with the Dodgers for $3 million ahead of the 2017 season, it was a sort of homecoming for him. Although he’d spent his entire career to that point with the Giants, he was a Southern California native who’d grown up a Dodger fan. It had all the makings of a feel-good story.

Unfortunately, the good feelings didn’t last long. Romo didn’t fare very well in Los Angeles at all, and he struggled particularly with the home run ball, allowing seven dingers in his 25 innings of work. In late May, Dustin wrote about not giving up on Romo just yet.

“I know there are folks calling for the Dodgers to DFA Romo. That would be hasty, especially since he isn’t making a lot of money and there is enough evidence that shows he might still have some value to this team. But if he continues to struggle, the Dodgers won’t hesitate to cut the veteran loose in favor of someone who would be able to help. We’re a ways off from that happening, though.”

Two days later, Chad chimed in with his thoughts.

“Recently, Dustin wrote an article about why the Dodgers shouldn’t give up on Sergio Romo. I, person who pines for Romo to be DFA’d almost daily, have a different opinion on that. Oddly enough, I’m not sure I need to do all that much, as it’s the easy position to take, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong either. Romo currently has 7.63 ERA, a 5.82 FIP, and a 7.69 DRA, the latter number being probably the best public run-prediction model for pitching we have. So Romo has been bad in 2017 and has pitched as badly as he’s looked so far.”

In June, Romo hit the disabled list with a sprained left ankle. He would need just the 10 days to recover, and was back with the team after just two rehab appearances.

When the Dodgers reinstated Grant Dayton from the disabled list on July 20, they cleared a spot for him by designating Romo for assignment. The Rays claimed him off of waivers, and he was off to Tampa Bay, where he was actually quite good for the remainder of the season (thanks in part, perhaps, to decreased slider usage). So it goes.

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2018 Status: Free agent. He should be able to find at least a non-roster invitation to Spring Training from some team.