Atkins earns better grade after Rule 5 draft reversal
The big roster crunch of the last offseason wasn’t that big of a deal after all.
Back in December, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins was heavily criticized for letting a pair of pitching prospects slip through his fingers. Jordan Romano and Travis Bergen were both taken after being left exposed in the Rule 5 draft.
This was supposed to be a serious blow to Toronto’s depth. An organization with so few quality pitchers ready for the major leagues, losing a pair of young arms. For a team that should have been stockpiling prospects instead of getting rid of them, it didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense.
In the end, the issue proved to be overblown. Romano was returned to the Jays by the end of spring training following a failed audition as a starter for the Texas Rangers. Bergen was brought back on Thursday after he was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants.
No harm, no foul, and now Atkins’ gamble has paid off. There will no longer be a need for questions about why the Jays opted to keep Dalton Pompey on the 40-man roster last off-season instead of protecting future pieces. Or why arms such as David Paulino and the suddenly surging Jacob Waguespack received safety as well.
Instead it will be the Rangers and Giants who potentially open themselves up for criticism in future years, especially in the case of Romano, who is being openly talked about as the possible closer of the future. That might seem extreme for a guy who entered Friday with all of four bigleague appearances under his belt, but it’s a testament to how highly the arm is viewed within the organization. When former GM Alex Anthopoulos used a 10th-round selection on Romano in the 2014 draft, the expectation all
along was that one day he would move into the bullpen. Romano pitched as a reliever for Oral Roberts University and the scouting reports suggested he had potential as an option in middle relief.
The Jays, like most teams would, decided to at least try him out as a starter before making any final determinations. Transitioning to the bullpen is a lot easier than transitioning to the rotation, so Toronto gave him parts of four seasons to figure things out. There were flashes of success, such as a 3.39 ERA for Class-A Dunedin in 2017, but overall the consistency wasn’t quite there and he was left exposed this past winter.
The Rangers decided to gamble on the arm by orchestrating a trade in the Rule 5 Draft. They asked the White Sox to select Romano with the third overall pick and then acquired him for cash considerations. That paved the way for Romano to spend almost all of spring training competing for the final spot in the Rangers rotation. He wasn’t successful.
Here’s where Texas opens itself up for criticism: Instead of the Rangers finding a spot for Romano in their bullpen, they sent him back to the Jays. A team that wasn’t supposed to be going anywhere — not with Houston and Oakland clearly the more talented teams in the AL West — and needed pitching let a power arm walk out the door with nothing to show for it.
Romano, who dealt with injuries not long after rejoining Toronto, is now back with the big-league team in a position that seems more suited to his abilities. A fastball which typically sat at 92 to 93 m.p.h. as a starter has been elevated to upper-90s velocity in short stints out of the bullpen. Add in a wipeout breaking ball and it’s easy to see why he’s projected to be so valuable late in games.
Romano has only been up with the Jays for a few weeks this season and yet it’s already an open secret that the organization views him as the future ninth-inning guy.
Ken Giles’ days in Toronto are numbered and there’s a strong chance the organization will move him during the off-season for prospects.
That’s when Romano could step in to be the guy the team turns to with the game on the line.
Bergen’s future is less certain after he posted a 5.49 ERA in 21 underwhelming appearances for the Giants. He’s not a hard thrower, but he does have a deceptive delivery and the fact that he throws from the left side means it’s only a matter of time before he gets an opportunity with the big-league club. Romano is the bigger name, but last year Bergen might have been considered the more significant loss. After Bergen was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire last year he posted a 0.50 ERA while striking out 43 and walking just nine. When used appropriately he has a place, as evidenced even in a down year for the Giants when he limited lefties to a .192/.250/.385 slash line vs. .265/.368/ .551 for righties.
The Jays have been operating for most of the year with just one reliable lefty out of the bullpen. Sure, southpaws such as Buddy Boshers and Thomas Pannone have made appearances, but Tim Mayza has been the only consistent presence. It’s possible the Jays have found another one with the return of Bergen.
This current rebuild is all about finding out which pieces fit, and which ones need to be cast aside. There are more openings than guaranteed jobs heading into 2020, but the Jays should feel a little bit better about their depth because all those sleepless nights deciding which players to protect last year didn’t turn out to be much of an issue at all, and they’re better off because of it.