Veteran right-hander Sergio Romo, a three-time World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants, has agreed to a minor-league contract to return to the Giants, reports The Athletic. Romo will make one final appearance at Oracle Park during the team’s Bay Bridge series with the Oakland Athletics at the end of spring practice and then hang up his spikes.
“I promise I’m not trying to take anyone’s place. I’ll tell you very clearly, I’m not coming (to spring training) to form a team. I can’t form this team at the moment. Mainly, I’m not trying. I like where I am in life, seeing my kids as often as I can. I’ve found a home here (in San Francisco),” Romo told The Athletic. “…Forever Giant. You hear that, forever giant. And for me, that’s what’s up. I mean it. Forever grateful. Rightly so, that’s what’s up.”
Romo, 40, played briefly with the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays last season, allowing 16 runs in 18 innings. He spent 2021 in the Bay Area with the A’s, posting a 4.67 ERA in 61 2/3 innings while holding right-handers with a .240 batting average and a .290 on-base percentage. The slider specialist owns a career 3.21 ERA across 15 MLB seasons and was a 2013 All-Star.
Romo was a key member of San Francisco’s championship teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He allowed five carries in 21 1/3 innings over those three postseasons while striking 20 and walking two. Most notably, Romo frozen Miguel Cabrera at his best to complete the four-game sweep and end the 2012 World Series clincher.
Originally a 28th-round pick in the 2005 draft, Romo made his MLB debut in 2008 and finally arrived in late 2009. From 2010 to 2016, Romo had a 2.49 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP while ranking among the league leaders in relief appearances and relief innings. During San Francisco’s reign at the top of the sport, he was a late-inning workhorse.
Romo signed with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2017 — “I never got booed[in San Francisco]even when I showed up in a Dodger uniform,” Romo told The Athletic — and later pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays. Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Athletics, Mariners and Blue Jays. On May 19, 2018, Romo became the first “opener” with the Rays.
The annual Bay Bridge Series is a series of exhibition games between the Giants and A’s at their home stadiums at the end of spring training. This year they are playing at RingCentral Coliseum on Sunday, March 26th and Oracle Park on Monday, March 27th. Romo is the all-time all-time leader with 272 regular-season pitching appearances at Oracle Park.