Andrew

Romine

Romine made the announcement Friday on his personal Instagram account. The 35-year-old utility infielder appeared in 26 games for the Cubs last season. He steps away after 11 seasons in the majors which includes stints with the Angels, Tigers, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs since 2010.

The 25-year was designated for assignment on Monday and went unclaimed on waivers. Romine carried a .183/.234/.267 slash line over 64 plate appearances with the Cubs this season.

Romine gets the boot with David Bote returning from the injured list. The 35-year-old batted just .183/.234/.267 with a homer over 64 plate appearances with the Cubs.

Romine led off the seventh inning with a bunt single off of Lance Lynn. He then moved to second as Robinson Chirinos walked, took third on a fly ball by Sergio Alcantara and dashed home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of David Bote. He then clobbered a two-out, three-run homer just over the right field wall in the eighth inning to make it a 4-4 game. Romine has been on fire since joining the Cubs, hitting .438 (7-for-16) with a homer and four RBI in his first six games.

The versatile 35-year-old has played just two games in the big leagues since the end of the 2018 season. In 47 games at Triple-A Iowa, he was slashing .311/.383/.396 with one homer, 11 RBI and two stolen bases. He remains an unappealing fantasy option.

Thursday was a busy day for many players to opt-out, and Romine wasn’t an exception. The versatile infielder was unlikely to open camp with Minnesota, and now can look elsewhere for a spot on someone’s bench to begin the 2021 campaign.

Romine was released by the White Sox prior to Opening Day last year and ended up appearing in a couple of games with the Rangers down the stretch. The 35-year-old holds a .235/.291/.301 batting line over 583 major league games and will serve as infield depth in camp.

Weaver was diving for a ground ball and tweaked his back, according to Weaver. The Rangers were already without Anderson Tejeda, who was scratched with a skin issue prior to the game. Andrew Rombine has taken over at third base.

Romine was signed to a minor league contract on September 15, and a little over a week later he’s joining the Rangers. It’ll be a short audition with just four days left in the regular season. He’ll serve as a utility player for the remainder of this shortened season, and if he gets in a game, he’ll make his first MLB appearance since 2018.

Romine will head to the team’s alternate training site for now but could maybe see some playing time down the stretch. The 34-year-old was released by the White Sox before Opening Day back on July 23.