Perhaps the most shocking development so far this offseason was the failure to retain the services of Russell Martin. Martin hasn’t exactly put our warm memories of Jorge Posada‘s bat to sleep, but he gave the Yankees two respectable seasons behind the dish. That’s why it was surprising when the Pirates out bid the Yankees for his services. Seldom do the Bombers let their man walk. Martin wasn’t going to be a Yankee for a decade, but it was worth it to keep him around for another year.
There’s no use crying over spilled milk. Martin is gone. Fortunately the Yankees are deepest in their farm system at Catcher. That’s part of why the team was comfortable letting Jesus Montero go in trade. Gary Sanchez is just 20 years old, and his bat arguably has as much promise as Montero’s. But Sanchez is a few seasons away. Is 2013 the season of Austin Romine?
Romine has never had the same hype as Sanchez or Montero because he’s never shown the same promise with the stick. But of the three he’s always shown the most raw potential as a backstop. He’ll be just 24 years old next season and he may be just the ticket on a Yankee team looking to cut costs. Can he handle the responsibility?
Romine didn’t show the Yankees much in 2011 when he got his first taste of the show. His batting line was just .158/.200/.158, which is as bad as it gets. But Romine has shown promise in the past. He’s done his best work in AA, but in 17 games in AAA last season he managed an 89 wRC+. He could be on the cusp of breaking out, or he could be in the process of never panning out. The only way to tell will be if the Yankees give him a shot. My gut says that Austin will be under the microscope in spring training. Failing that, there’s always Francisco Cervelli.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
10 Responses to What about Austin Romine?
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
I don’t like the idea of skipping AAA for players who at their best were a 104 wRC+ and I like it even less for catchers. Romine has shown nothing to suggest he’s ready for major league pitchers and throwing him into a starting role at this point is begging for trouble. He needs to spend at least part of the season in AAA, the whole year would be preferable but need may dictate he has to be called up at some point. Either way it’s a mistake to force him to be a major league player right now.
I agree with Chris that it would be a mistake to just hand him the job right now, and I have to think the Yankees’ plan is to start him in Triple-A again just to get an idea of what he can do with the stick when he’s 100% healthy.
That being said, assuming the Yankees don’t add a catcher before ST and roll into camp with their collection of backups, I would have no problem with Romine getting 1 of the 2 roster spots if he surprises everybody and greatly outperforms the rest of the candidates.
“…surprising when the Pirates out bid the Yankees for his services.”
Brian never made an offer after Russell turned down a proposed extension before the season began — and thank goodness for that.
Player 1
497 Minor League games
53 HR
251 RBI
99 2B
274 Runs
Player 2
458 Minor League games
43 HR
254 RBI
102 2B
245 Runs
Player 1 is Jorge Posada in minors and Player 2 is Austin Romine in minors. Maybe it’s time to give the kid a shot.
HRs, runs, and RBI are the worst ways possible to judge players considering two of those three stats are team stats.
In 6 minor league seasons Jorge had a triple slash line of .258/.368/.436 in 6 minor league season Romine has a slash line of .278/.333/.414. Here’s the kicker Jorge played 603 games in those 6 years, 306 of which were played in AAA. Romine on the other hand has played 486 games in his 6 years, only 21 of which have been in AAA. So in more games Jorge showed better on base skills and more power, and Romine did most of that in A or AA ball while Jorge did it almost exclusively against more advanced pitcher in AAA.
Better statistics and perspective tell the story much better than cherry picked numbers with no context.
Just trying to add to the discussion Chris. Since you too seem to be cherry picking numbers; did you happen to notice that Posada originally came up as a infielder and wasn’t converted to a catcher until his 2nd year in the minors? Maybe Posada needed the years in AAA because he only caught 432 games total to Romine’s 339.
Look, there will never be another Posada. We were very lucky. All I am trying to say is maybe they should give him a long look in spring training and see what happens. Could be a better alternative than Eli Whiteside!
Romine has never managed to stay on the field, and a back problem for a catcher is no small thing. Why would the Yankees want to count on him now?
If there’s any one position that the Yankee coaching staff is qualified to baby a rookie through, it’s catcher.
The Yanks will survive ‘slong as they find offense in the outfield, 3B and DH
Simply want to say your article is as amazing. The clarity to your publish is
just great and that i can assume you are an expert on this subject.
Well along with your permission let me to snatch your RSS feed to keep updated
with impending post. Thank you one million and please
keep up the rewarding work.
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with useful info to work on. You have done a formidable task and our entire group can be grateful to you.
My website … the tao of badass pdf