Sergio Romo Signs with Giants, Why Won’t Anyone Else?

At long last, the San Francisco Giants have made a move. Granted, that move was to re-sign Sergio Romo, who has been solid in the Giants’ bullpen, but also lost his closer spot last season.

Yes, it will be nice to have Romo back in the fold, but there are still major holes that need to be fixed if the Giants want to break the “even year” label. Currently, there are gaping holes on the left side, with third base and left field yet to be filled. Joaquin Arias can man third, with Juan Perez/Gregor Blanco in left, but is that really the makeup of a championship contender?

Then there is the starting rotation. Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain and Tim Hudson make up the top three spots, with Cain and Huddy being question marks heading in to 2015. Tim Lincecum is a drain on the payroll, and Yusmeiro Petit has the potential to be a solid addition to the rotation, but his splits suggest he may be a better fit in the bullpen. As a reliever, Petit pitched 49 innings and held a 1.84 ERA. As a starter, he pitched 68 innings and had an ERA over five.

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Adding Sergio Romo is a depth move, and is also insurance if Santiago Casilla starts to struggle in the closer role. I get that. But something is going on with the Giants and it’s off-putting. If they wanted Romo back so bad, couldn’t they have signed him earlier, and possibly for less?

Pablo Sandoval chose the Red Sox, Jon Lester took less money to play in Chicago, and Mike Morse just received a 2 year/$8M deal with Miami. There is no way the Giants couldn’t have matched that. It’s less than he made last season! While not wanting to re-sign Morse makes sense, having him in the fold as a possibility to man first could have given the Giants more options on the trade market to forcibly acquire players while using Brandon Belt as a trade chip.

Yes, it’s still relatively early in the offseason, but when the World Series winner in three of the past five seasons can’t lure free agents, something fishy is going on, and it’s not the Wharf.