TEMPE, Ariz. — It wasn't that the Angels were opposed to having a left-hander in the bullpen, even though, after going nearly 2 1/2 years without one, it seemed they were immune to the idea.
They just didn't want a mediocre left-hander, a long-in-the-tooth veteran with marginal stuff or a strong-armed kid with little experience. With Francisco Rodriguez, Scot Shields and Brendan Donnelly effective against left-handers, why sacrifice a power right-handed arm just for the sake of having a left-hander?
Then, in December, a veteran left-hander with creditable stuff, a 29-year-old who held left-handers to a .225 average over the last three years, fell into their laps.
A long-simmering feud between J.C. Romero and Minnesota Twin Manager Ron Gardenhire boiled over on the Metrodome mound Sept. 28, producing a last-straw kind of incident that secured Romero's ticket out of Minneapolis.
The Twins had no choice but to trade Romero after the pitcher stormed off the mound, dropping the ball in the manager's hand as he walked by, when Gardenhire came out to make a pitching change.
And the Angels, knowing Minnesota had little leverage, got him for the bargain-basement price of Alexi Casilla, a Class-A infielder.
"I don't know who we traded for him, but we got a good deal out of it," Shields said. "He has a quality arm and a track record. He likes to joke around, he's a good guy.... He's going to fit right into the bullpen."
Romero didn't fit very well into Gardenhire's bullpen last season. After emerging as one of baseball's best left-handed relievers in 2002, with a 9-2 record and a 1.89 earned-run average in 81 games, Romero struggled with a hamstring injury in 2003, when he had a 5.00 ERA in 73 games.
Though he was 7-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 68 games in 2004 and 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 68 games in 2005, Romero allowed 40 of 87 inherited runners to score in that span. As Gardenhire's faith in him waned and relievers such as Juan Rincon and Jesse Crain passed him on the depth chart, Romero's role diminished.
One day he was a setup man, another a left-handed specialist, another a long man. Sometimes, he'd go a week without pitching.
"The last two years, I had no clue when I would pitch or if I would pitch," Romero said. "I got out of my groove. My role changed. I couldn't adjust."
