Yankees Catcher Austin Romine Signs With The Tigers, So Let's Remember The Time He Made Miggy His Bitch in a Benches Clearing Brawl
Yankees backup catcher Austin Romine signed with the Detroit Tigers today on a one year four million dollar deal. For anyone not a Yankees fan, you probably won't give a shit about that, but Ro is one helluva guy who deserves a starting role somewhere.
The signing does bring up old memories of his fantastic brawl with Miguel Cabrera in Detroit back in 2017. It's been a few years so things are probably settled with everyone, but I'd still love to see Cabrera and Romine's first meeting after all of this.
Ro doesn't take shit from anyone. Miguel Cabrera is a large man and Romine stood right in his face not backing down for a second as he took his mask off. Miggy shoved him out of nowhere and tried to throw a few punches, but none of them landed. Romine then took Miggy to the ground in a way that would make Robbie Fox proud. The catcher then landed multiple big punches to Cabrera's gut before things dissipated. It was AWESOME. Romine certainly wasn't happy with Cabrera after the game.
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I'm going to miss the fuck out of Austin Romine. He's been with the organization since they drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft. I really don't think there's a better backup catcher out there, which makes sense that he wants to start for a team before it's too late (he's 31). He deserves this shot and I hope only the best for him.
As for what the Yankees do at backup catcher. The plan seems to be to go with Kyle Higashioka, who served as the 3rd catcher last year making back and forth trips from Scranton to the Bronx. I like Kyle as he's sound defensively behind the dish and brings some pop with the bat. Martin Maldonado has been discussed since he was Gerrit Cole's personal catcher in Houston. In 68.2 innings last season Cole posted a 1.57 ERA and a ridiculous 10.4 K/BB ratio with Maldonado. If Cole really wants Maldonado I imagine that's already been discussed during the negotiations and the Yankees will go out and get him. I personally don't love personal catchers too much unless there's true bad blood between the other catcher and the pitcher that they'll just never work out. That's obviously not the case here.