Aug 18, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jordan Romano (68) watches a home run during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Jordan Romano has signed a Major League contract.
No, you are not on a relaunch of the television show Punk'd.
According to a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan, Romano has signed a one year, $2 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
Right-handed reliever Jordan Romano and the Los Angeles Angels are in agreement on a one-year, $2 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Romano, 32, heads to an Angels team loading up on reclamation projects in hopes of recapturing the form that landed him on two All-Star teams.
Ahh, the Angels. Now it makes sense.
An organization that usually makes one head-scratching decision after another, decided to give Romano a Major League job after what he showed for the Phillies last season.
In 49 games with Philadelphia in 2025, Romano had an eyesore for an ERA (8.23).
Romano, 32, will look to improve on that mark. The contract with the Angels is a steep salary reduction. Now 32, Romano signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal a year ago with the Phillies to be a trustworthy back-end of the bullpen righty.
He was anything but.
He had several major blow ups during the season. The walk-off inside the park home run by Patrick Bailey in San Francisco in July was a killer.
SFG - Patrick Bailey 3-run HR (1)
📏 Distance: 414 ft
💨 EV: 103.4 mph
📐 LA: 29°
⚾️ 93.9 mph four-seam fastball (PHI - RHP Jordan Romano)
🏟️ Would be out in 29/30 MLB parks
PHI (3) @ SFG (4)
🔻 9th#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/XZZi3O83cj
He had a meltdown inning in Queens against the Mets in his final appearance in August. A day later he was placed on the IL with inflammation of his right middle finger - something akin to what many fans felt when they were using it to show disgust after most of his outings.
The Phillies did him a solid and basically just ran out the clock on his season on the injured list, never actually letting him to resume a throwing program to try to get back.
With Robert Stephenson currently slated to be the Angels closer, Romano is one of six other righty relievers currently on their 40-man roster who will compete to be the right-handed setup guy opposite late-inning lefties Drew Pomeranz and Brock Burke.
As bad as he was on the mound, Romano was actually a delightful guy, so on a personal level, you feel good for him that he gets another crack.
On a baseball level, though, you might be wondering if that crack is something the Angels front office is smoking.
