The Angels are playing a couple of entertaining games this season. The first is called "let's stack the roster with slap-hitting middle-infielders." I think they won that game. The second is a variation on the first called "let's see how many slap-hitting middle-infielders can get injured simultaneously." With Maicer Izturis (shoulder), Erick Aybar (hernia), and now Alberto Callaspo (foot) all on the shelf, I like the Angels chances to win here too. The desolation leaves, um, Brandon Wood all alone at shortstop.
Andrew Romine is probably #6 on the organizational depth chart at short, and I say "probably" because what organization plans six spots deep at any position other than pitcher? The Angels skipped over #5, Hainley Statia, because, well, he's injured too. So welcome to the 40-man roster, Andrew James Romine from Winter Haven, FL. You'll get your players' union welcome packet in the mail.
So seriously, who is he? He didn't appear on Halos Heaven's Top 30 Prospects of 2010 list. He didn't make John Sickels' top 20 either (although Sickels did grade him a 'C'). You might recognize his name if you follow the team during spring training, however. The Angels took him in the 5th round of the 2007 draft as a junior out of Arizona State. A switch-hitter, he spent the entire minor league season at AA Arkansas, hitting .282 / .370 / .366 in 106 games. He also has 121 stolen bases in his minor-league career, albeit with a fairly average 74% success rate. This makes him out to be basically Reggie Willits on the offensive side: speed and good plate discipline, but zero power.
Unlike Willits, Romine is a shortstop, which is a good thing, since guys with zero power should not be playing corner outfield positions. By all accounts, Romine's glove rates very well. At age 24, he's still young enough to be considered a marginal prospect, and John Sickels offered Tommy Manzella as a possible comparable. Being compared to Tommy Manzella isn't exactly a feather in Romine's cap. He could be a useful bench player down the line if he ever hits for a decent average, but with a peak translation of .242 batting average based on his performance at Arkansas, he still has a lot to prove.
0 recs | 5 comments
he's the
older brother of Yankees prospect, Austin, and my old bosses’ best friend’s kid. Funny, Austin was born in Lake Forest and attended school locally. Didn’t know that Andrew was born in FL…
feNOMINAL - September 24, 2010
Now I know I am old...
Dad (Kevin) played baseball at Fountain Valley High School when I was there, football too if my memory is working correctly. He went on to play for the Red Sox for a number of years. Now his son Andrew is playing for the Angels.
hbhalofan - September 24, 2010
ASU! ASU!!!!!!!!
Loved him as my favorite shortstop at ASU! That team is turning into a nice little MLB team.. Ike Davis at 1B/Pitcher. Mike Leake as Pitcher/OF. Brett Wallace at 3B. Miss that powerhouse!
WillGoAngels27 - September 24, 2010
Yeah he played at Trabuco Hills
its about 30 minutes away from Angel Stadium. Austin his brother went to El Toro which is interestingly Trabuco’s rival and is now on the Yankees, another rival. The only other MLB pro player is Nick Punto, who he will probably most resemble in his career if you ask me.
mikvitu - September 25, 2010
Romines at Trabuco Hills
Yeah, my son practiced with both Andrew and Austin (Andrew was a Senior, Austin and my son, Freshman). According to my son, Andrew was a great guy – a team player and willing to help out the Freshman. Our middle infield was really good that year. Austin played a year with TH and went on to El Toro because (we heard) that our coach wasn’t going to be starting him at catcher, but rather 1st base on varsity the next year and his dad wanted him playing catcher. He was going to be the Varsity catcher the following two years and, as it turns out (because our starting catcher moved) he would have started at catcher that year anyway. Oh well. He had a great career at El Toro and they were really good. Andrew had a good career at Arizona State before being drafted by the Angels. If Andrew has a career like Nick Punto, it wouldn’t be so bad. Nick’s done really well in Minnesota as a good team-first player.
OC Hawk - September 25, 2010
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