This is a tough one for me.  He resigned with the Phillies through 2010.  He pitched 56.1 innings in 2007, with 2 wins and 2 losses, 1 save, 42 strikeouts, and an earned run average (ERA) of 1.97.  This is excellent but did they just use him in the correct situations?  Word on the street is that he’s good against lefties only.

However the stats for this year don’t quite bear that out.  Lefties hit .208 against him and righties a whopping .198.  That doesn’t seem to fall in line with that word on the street thing.   He did horribly with the Angels in 2006, posting a 6.70 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched.  In 2005 he had an ERA of 3.47 in 57.0 innings pitched, in 2004 he had an ERA of 3.51 in 74.1 innings pitched, both years for the Minnesota Twins.

There are other years prior to this but I think that’s a good sampling of stats.  Are the stats with the Angels an aberration?  Is this the direction he’s going?  After a very bad year, he had a fantastic year to “make up for it” with the Phillies.  As a middle reliever, he seems a bit risky for a fantasy team.  When he’s got his stuff, he’s good at what he does.  But if he doesn’t, he is terrible.  So he’s definitely not a top tier middle reliever but someone who could get you a decent ERA for a few innings.

If your fantasy league counts stats that favor middle relievers, he’s probably a B level middle reliever–an easy pickup as no one expects him to be that good, ultimately.  But if your fantasy league is your standard, vanilla 5×5, don’t bother with Romero.

Jimmy Rollins won the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, voted on by the writers. What writers? I’m not sure but they gave J-Roll a 17 point edge over his major competition, Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies. Perhaps it was the statement by Rollins that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East? Perhaps it was his performance all season long, getting 212 hits, 30 home runs, 20 triples, 41 stolen bases, 38 doubles, 94 runs batted in, and 139 runs scored. He was massive and integral to the Phillies come back stand, pushing them over the top to win the NL East for the first time in over 10 years. What a season and he totally deserved that award!

Who knows! Ryan Howard won the NL MVP last year and J-Roll this year. What Phillie will win it in 2008?

This is a no brainer pick as J-Roll is a top fantasy player and getting better every year.  He’s just 29 years old and in his prime production years.  He drove in 139 runs, had 212 hits and 94 RBIs (Runs Batted In), hit 30 home runs, stole 41 bases, and batted 296 over 162 games in 2007.  Jimmy is getting better every year and deserves to be on any fantasy team.