Reliever Romero Signs

J.C. Romero is the classic example of the up and down performance of relievers on a year-to-year basis. The key with this group is to find one who doesn't embarrass himself in the down years and can put up great years when he's on. Romero is one such reliever.

The Phillies just signed him to a 3-year $12 million contract today. For a guy who's thrown less than an inning an appearance the past three seasons that may be a bit steep but the Phillies desperately needed to get Brett Myers back into the starting rotation so they had to make sure their bullpen would be solid enough.

A positive note about Romero's up and down career is the fact that since 2002 he's only had one season in which left-handers have had a +.700 OPS against him.