The M's have reportedly been in contact with the St. Louis Cardinals about JoJo Romero.
According to St. Louis Cardinals reporter Jeff Jones, the Seattle Mariners have engaged in trade conversations with the Cardinals about left-handed reliever JoJo Romero.
We know the Mariners are plenty interested in Cardinals' All-Star Brendan Donovan, but Romero's name is relatively new to the rumor mill.
The following comes from MLBTradeRumors, with a link to Jones's original reporting.
Seattle’s interest in Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan is no secret. They were linked to him last offseason and have been reported to be one of his most prominent suitors this winter. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports that in addition to Donovan, the Mariners have had “ongoing” discussions with the Cardinals about left-handed reliever JoJo Romero throughout the winter.
About Romero
Now 29 years old, Romero is a California native who played his college ball at Nevada and Yavapai College. He was a fourth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016 and made his major league debut with Philadelphia in 2021. Acquired by the Cardinals in 2022, he's gone 15-11 lifetime with a 3.55 ERA.
He appeared in 65 games last season for St. Louis, striking out 55 over 61.0 innings. This is the final year of his contract, and he's expected to be traded at some point. St. Louis has already dealt Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado as they begin their rebuild under first-year executive Chaim Bloom.
Romero has appeared in 65 games in consecutive seasons.
About the M's bullpen right now
Romero is certainly a valuable arm, and it's understandable why the Mariners would want him, however, it should be noted that the M's already have two lefties in Gabe Speier and Jose Ferrer. Do they need a third? Righties hit .220 off him last season while lefties hit .211.
The Mariners currently have Speier, Ferrer, Andres Munoz, Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash and Carlos Vargas in the bullpen. There's a theoretical opening for two additional arms, so there is room for Romero should they want to pursue it further.
Casey Legumina, Troy Taylor, Alex Hoppe and Jackson Kowar are just a handful of internal options the Mariners have for those spots.
About the cost
Even though Romero is on an expiring deal, he'll certainly come at a price. If the Mariners are to try to get Donovan as well, the cost will be extensive. Seattle has seven prospects in the Top 100 of MLB Pipeline right now including Colt Emerson, Michael Arroyo, Jonny Farmelo, Laz Montes, Kade Anderson, Ryan Sloan and Jurrangelo Cijntje.
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