Tracking 2008 4th Round LHP Josh Romanski, Now A Yankee Farmhand; Latest -- Finally, Some Backstory

[Mass Haas]

Strong August 29th outing (tough-luck loss) Sunday for Romanski, his 2nd with Tampa in the FSL. He'll likely get one more start this season, and then we'll put this thread to bed for good.

[TooLiveBrew]

Will you follow him in '11, too? It's been kind of interesting.

[Mass Haas]

Will you follow him in '11, too? It's been kind of interesting.

We'll occasionally update the Alumni thread with posts, but certainly not to this extent (start-by-start). The unique circumstances made this season's thread a curiosity.

 

[Mass Haas]

Finished the regular season Saturday (five innings, one run) -- stat line is included at this link, with final regular season numbers.

 

Josh may see action in Tampa's postseason.

[Mass Haas]

The Florida State League finals begin Friday night the 10th -- Josh Romanski and his Tampa Yankees squad advanced past the first round, and Romanski's turn is up, so he gets the start in Game One of the Finals.

***

In a subscriber-only Baseball America column, Romanski's story was printed with additional detail, and some hints are finally coming out about the reason for the "breakup".

This Yankee blogger summarizes things here --

Baseball America did a little story (subscription required) about LHP Josh Romanski (High-A, Tampa), a former Brewers 2008 fourth round draft pick.

After handing him a $247,000 bonus, the Brewers cut ties with him when an injury and subsequent perceived disciplinary problem derailed the relationship.

I say “perceived disciplinary problem” because the Brewers assert that Romanski wasn’t diligent in his injury rehab. As these types of things can be very much a matter of perception, I’ll choose to believe that it was an isolated incident and that the Yankees are in a position to reap the benefits of the Brewers’ short fuse.

In any case, if he was good enough to be a fourth round pick and the Yanks can get anything out of him, it’s a bonus for us.

***

Obviously, we can't copy more than a snippet from BA, but here's a bit --

When Milwaukee called into question his desire to rehab from the procedure this spring, they summarily released him in April, eating his $247,000 signing bonus. The Brewers lost interest in Romanski because of his indifferent attitude toward rehab. According to the Brewers, he tried the organization's patience by either not showing up or arriving late for rehab sessions.

***

So while that doesn't shine the brightest of lights on Romanski, it does shine some light on what had been a pretty big mystery. One wonders if the Brewers could have placed him on a restricted list of some sort, but you figure they totally weighed all their options before setting him free.

Interestingly, it's apparent Josh's friends and family caught wind of this thread. Someone close to him caught up with us and turned out to be quite cordial, I appreciated the comments and brief conversation.

"I have followed your staff's posts all year and I am amazed on how much time you gave a player who is no longer a Brewer and hasn't been for a long time."

Actually, we understand how some Brewer fans felt the same way -- the thread is actually only around 30 posts, most of them game updates, so it's not like the thread had a lot of drama attached to it. It was informational.

"I will tell you this, Josh worked his butt off to get back to health and whether he ever pitches in the big leagues or not he has made it in a lot of people's books."

Two perspectives, two sides to every story -- what do they say, truth is somewhere in the middle?

We would never discount what it takes to make it back from major injury. Certainly over the years, and again this year, there are more than a few Brewers who underwent surgeries, some missing the entire season. Working with the organization's trainers, strength coaches, and medical staffs, we salute each and every one of those players. Hope to see you all back and healthy in 2011.

That being said, there appears to be a difference of opinion going on, but whatever route he took, Josh made it back to the mound, so that's worth a salute, too.

"Be happy for Josh because he is happy."

We have no reason to feel otherwise. We'd be happier if he were still with the Brewers, though.

***

This story should fizzle away, but don't be surprised it if pops back up if Romanski is eventually on the Yankees' 40-man roster in a couple of years, or even better for him and his friends and family, in the bigs someday. Then there would certainly be an interesting back story from a Brewer perspective.

[Mass Haas]

Romanski walked only 21 in 100.1 innings in the regular season.

 

He walked none while fanning five in six innings tonight, allowing only two runs (two home runs), pitching Tampa to a 5-2 victory over Charlotte (Rays) in game one of the best-of-five FSL championship series. Congrats to Josh, what a comeback season...

[trwi7]

If I were going to side with anyone, I'd probably side with Romanski. They sent Gerut and Estrada home too, while Estrada would have a reason to milk an injury, there was no reason for Gerut to and they were frustrated with him too when there was no reason to doubt him.