The defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals have filled their need for a lefthander in their bullpen.
Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak announced Thursday that the club has signed free-agent left-handed pitcher J.C. Romero to a one-year contract. Romero has spent parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball.
Romero, 35, had his best season in 2007 as a member of the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. Pitching in a combined 74 games, Romero allowed just 12 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings (1.92 ERA).
The Cardinals have opted to not re-sign veteran Arthur Rhodes, which leaves Marc Rzepczynski as the lone-lefty in the bullpen.
The Romero signing is one of three made by the Cardinals in the past week. Shortstop Rafael Furcal and utility-man Skip Schumaker both received two-year contracts. This comes after the Cardinals lost Albert Pujols in free-agency to the Anaheim Angels.
"I think a lot was up in the air as we were in the Pujols negotiations,” Mozeliak told stlcardinals.com, “but when that was resolved it freed up a lot of time so that we were able to start accomplishing some of the things we did this past week.”
Keywords: arthur rhodes, jc romero, john mozeliak, Marc Rzepczynski, st louis cardinals
