Fernando Romero

[Vanimal46]

The forgotten former top prospect... Remember him? He disappeared from our thoughts after he had issues with his visa attempting to return to the US.

 

Will he be able to keep his last option year for 2021 because of him being on the restricted list? Should he be considered as an internal replacement for one of May, Clippard, or Romo?

[mikelink45]

WHO?  Good luck to him - I would not expect anything.

[Shaitan]

It would be a nice surprise, but I never thought we was a top prospect. He was a Twins top prospect...during a spell when the team was very bad. In other words, I think his status was inflated.

[DocBauer]

The forgotten former top prospect... Remember him? He disappeared from our thoughts after he had issues with his visa attempting to return to the US.

Will he be able to keep his last option year for 2021 because of him being on the restricted list? Should he be considered as an internal replacement for one of May, Clippard, or Romo?

You beat me too it Van! I've been thinking about him for a few weeks now, ever since the season ended and 2021 speculation began.

 

I'm sure somebody is better informed than me, or will have been research links and time to check on his status, but I am going to speculate that unless he and his agent filed paperwork to opt-out of 2020, he would be a "did not report" status and would still have an option remaining. And unless I missed it, I did not see his name among any FA lists. So I am going to assume he still is under the Twins umbrella.

 

We may never know exactly what happened to him in regard to 2020, and maybe we don't need to know. And I am NOT suggesting something nefarious took place, but what a weird situation!

 

Is he a viable BP option? I say ABSOLUTELY, but with the caveat that he missed an incredible opportunity to be part of St Paul last season and is not in EST. So with more than enough time now to get his visa situation in order, the question is; "does be want to play"? Read nothing in to that, just asking the question and offering some speculation. Barring some tremendous ST performance, his path back is through Rochester to begin 2021. No immediate dividends, but he could end up being a factor.

 

He is not Graterol, but his overall stuff is similar in many ways to Alcala. Consistent mj d 90's velocity and nasty breaking pitch but could never find that 3rd pitch or consistent control to remain a SP option. He was a top Twins prospect and I want to remember he was a top 100 prospect at one time. I could be mistaken. I really hope he's not done and will be pitching for Rochester in 2021 and re-establishing himself.

[Vanimal46]

It would be a nice surprise, but I never thought we was a top prospect. He was a Twins top prospect...during a spell when the team was very bad. In other words, I think his status was inflated.

He wasn’t a stranger to national publication top 100 prospect lists... The Twins seem to have a knack for nice surprises like Wisler and Thielbar. I’m intrigued if Wes Johnson can make some tweaks to Romero’s wipe out slider.

[Danchat]

They should definitely hold on to him and try to fix him if he gets another option year. He has an electric arm that should be able to play in the bullpen. I think it's more likely he doesn't pan out, but his upside is so high, he's the type of guy who's going to resurface with the Rays and figure things out there.

[Vanimal46]

They should definitely hold on to him and try to fix him if he gets another option year. He has an electric arm that should be able to play in the bullpen. I think it's more likely he doesn't pan out, but his upside is so high, he's the type of guy who's going to resurface with the Rays and figure things out there.

Not to pick on you Dan... I’m just confused why fans don’t think he could pan out here in Minnesota. The organization is showing they are improving in player development with Wisler, Thielbar, Alcala, and others showing success. The FO should still be excited to work with his velocity and plus slider.

[Vanimal46]

You beat me too it Van! I've been thinking about him for a few weeks now, ever since the season ended and 2021 speculation began.

 

I'm sure somebody is better informed than me, or will have been research links and time to check on his status, but I am going to speculate that unless he and his agent filed paperwork to opt-out of 2020, he would be a "did not report" status and would still have an option remaining. And unless I missed it, I did not see his name among any FA lists. So I am going to assume he still is under the Twins umbrella.

 

We may never know exactly what happened to him in regard to 2020, and maybe we don't need to know. And I am NOT suggesting something nefarious took place, but what a weird situation!

 

Is he a viable BP option? I say ABSOLUTELY, but with the caveat that he missed an incredible opportunity to be part of St Paul last season and is not in EST. So with more than enough time now to get his visa situation in order, the question is; "does be want to play"? Read nothing in to that, just asking the question and offering some speculation. Barring some tremendous ST performance, his path back is through Rochester to begin 2021. No immediate dividends, but he could end up being a factor.

 

He is not Graterol, but his overall stuff is similar in many ways to Alcala. Consistent mj d 90's velocity and nasty breaking pitch but could never find that 3rd pitch or consistent control to remain a SP option. He was a top Twins prospect and I want to remember he was a top 100 prospect at one time. I could be mistaken. I really hope he's not done and will be pitching for Rochester in 2021 and re-establishing himself.

That would be encouraging if Romero keeps his option year in 2021! As always, I appreciate reading your opinion. The reason I wanted to bring up his name is because his situation in 2020 was weird. In June we read about his visa issues, then resigned to the fact he couldn’t come back and moved on.

 

It’s natural for us fans to be focused on our 2020 contributors in our 2021 plans. So far, I’ve seen 0 offseason plans include Romero as a contender for a spot on the 2021 pitching staff...

 

Would it surprise anyone if he was the Sire of Fort Myers next year?

[Doctor Gast]

It was a shame he missed valuable time in 2020 where he was absent from Wes Johnson`s watchful eye. Still hopeful of a big return if his head is right.

[wabene]

This seems to me that it is a personal issue similar to what happened with Thorpe last year. (Pure speculation). Unlike Thorpe this guy can flat out sling it. Those few starts where he blew everybody away still happened. Then he went in a complete funk. Total wildcard but intriguing.

[Tom Froemming]

 

[rdehring]

Count me among those who would like to know what the heck happened this past summer. Can he be an effective reliever, sure would think that's possible. 

 

Hopefully, someone at TD has the contacts needed to get us answers to our many questions.

[Danchat]

 

Not to pick on you Dan... I’m just confused why fans don’t think he could pan out here in Minnesota. The organization is showing they are improving in player development with Wisler, Thielbar, Alcala, and others showing success. The FO should still be excited to work with his velocity and plus slider.

Well, they weren't able to fix him in 2019 once he moved to the pen, and they haven't been able to fix everyone. I think he gets DFA'd if he doesn't have an option, and I don't know if they'll be able to keep him around. I suppose his poor pitching in 2019 made me lose some faith - heck, there were several here who claimed that moving him to the bullpen ruined him (not that I buy in to that).

[Otto von Ballpark]

Romero should have an option remaining in 2021. You have to spend 20 days during the season on optional assignment to burn an option year, and Romero didn't do that in 2020. In fact, he was never even  optioned, because he was never active -- he went straight onto the restricted list back in March and stayed there all year.

 

I suspect players who opted out in time will also keep the option year they otherwise would have expended in 2020. Michael Kopech of the White Sox, for example -- he was optioned in March but he was placed on the restricted list in July before any games were played, so I don't think his 20 day count ever started.

[Danchat]

 

Romero should have an option remaining in 2021. You have to spend 20 days during the season on optional assignment to burn an option year, and Romero didn't do that in 2020. In fact, he was never even  optioned, because he was never active -- he went straight onto the restricted list back in March and stayed there all year.

 

I suspect players who opted out in time will also keep the option year they otherwise would have expended in 2020. Michael Kopech of the White Sox, for example -- he was optioned in March but he was placed on the restricted list in July before any games were played, so I don't think his 20 day count ever started.

I believe you are correct, but I don't think we ever learned if he was granted a 4th year option. I remember discussing that around this time last year, but unless I missed it, we don't know. I do see that Fangraphs' depth charts have him with 1 option year, so perhaps he does.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I believe you are correct, but I don't think we ever learned if he was granted a 4th year option. I remember discussing that around this time last year, but unless I missed it, we don't know. I do see that Fangraphs' depth charts have him with 1 option year, so perhaps he does.

Romero had a 4th option for 2020. The criteria is objective and fairly clear. I suspect we simply don’t hear it announced sometimes if it isn’t relevant (like Romero wasn’t even active, or Kepler in 2017 was in no danger of being sent down).

 

And since he wasn’t even on an active roster for the entirety of 2020, it should carry over to 2021 regardless of if/how MLB counts 2020 as a full active season.

[sdangus]

He's not on the 40 man roster, so I don't think options even matter. I wouold assume the Twins released him some time during the season.

[sdangus]

After further researching this, I see that he is still showing as restricted list on his MLB page. 

However, before they could bring him to spring training they would have to dedicate a 40 man spot to him. I doubt they will do that at this point.

[Vanimal46]

 

After further researching this, I see that he is still showing as restricted list on his MLB page. 

However, before they could bring him to spring training they would have to dedicate a 40 man spot to him. I doubt they will do that at this point.

The Twins have room to add him back to the 40 man. It would be silly not to with Romero still making the league minimum and the profile he possesses. Savvy teams would gladly take on a project like Romero... 

[lecroy24fan]

 

Count me among those who would like to know what the heck happened this past summer. Can he be an effective reliever, sure would think that's possible. 

 

Hopefully, someone at TD has the contacts needed to get us answers to our many questions.

 

It was all about his visa. He could not get it done because everything closed down in DR mid-March. Was still closed as of June 25th as well.

[dougd]

Dominican Republic winter league baseball starts Nov. 15, without fans in attendance. I wonder if Romero would be playing. Presumably the Twins would give permission. I assume the Twins would have included him in their instructional camp if he was able to get a visa. 

[Vanimal46]

 

This is unexpected.

[Dman]

Dang he was one of our best pitching prospects at one time.  I can't believe they couldn't turn him into at least a solid reliever.  Oh well another one bites the dust.

[Danchat]

 

This is unexpected.

Wow, it'd be one thing if the 40 man roster was full and they DFA'd him to make room, but it seems they're ready to give up on him. I wouldn't rule out something off-the-field happening that we don't know about yet.

[ashbury]

Wow, it'd be one thing if the 40 man roster was full and they DFA'd him to make room, but it seems they're ready to give up on him. I wouldn't rule out something off-the-field happening that we don't know about yet.

It could be something serious in the medical evaluations, assuming you don't mean to include that in "off-the-field happening".

 

[Danchat]

 

 

Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Fernando Romero will sign with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Japanese Central League.

The Twins officially released Romero on Friday, freeing him to make the move overseas. The 25-year-old hurler posted a 5.17 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 63/30 K/BB ratio across 69 2/3 career innings at the big league level with the Twins.

And there we go, we found out why Romero was released. This still doesn't make a ton of sense to me - I'm sure there would be some MLB teams that would love to stash him in their bullpen - but it at least explains today's move.

[ashbury]

Pro tip: check with the Japanese embassy in regard to their rules for visas, well in advance of departure.

[Rigby]

 

Pro tip: check with the Japanese embassy in regard to their rules for visas, well in advance of departure.

 

As long as you're not flying in on the Enola Gay you should be okay. 

[Vanimal46]

Pro tip: check with the Japanese embassy in regard to their rules for visas, well in advance of departure.

Another pro tip: Romero should leave his marijuana at home this time.

 

https://theathletic.com/2272125/2020/12/19/fernando-romero-twins-japan-prospect/?source=user_shared_article