'No hard feelings' between Romine, Cabrera

DETROIT -- From the moment the deal was reported, the question of how Austin Romine and Miguel Cabrera would handle being teammates was bound to come up.

The Tigers saw their newest teammate's passion first-hand two years ago at Comerica Park, where Romine jawed with Cabrera after Cabrera took exception to a pitch inside. Cabrera threw a punch, Romine tackled Cabrera and the benches and bullpens cleared.

By the time the two were separated, then-Tiger Andrew Romine was talking to his younger brother, trying to calm him down.

"No hard feelings," Romine said on a Friday conference call after his one-year contract with Detroit became official. "I feel like baseball takes care of itself. You have two guys out there protecting their teams. That's just baseball. It was an unfortunate circumstance, but you move on. I think I'm in a spot now where I'm excited to go to Detroit, and I'm excited to work with one of the best hitters of our generation and hopefully learn from him."

Fracas aside, Austin Romine didn't have to go far to figure out if Detroit was right for him. His brother, Andrew, was a Tigers super-utility player from 2014 through '17, becoming famous for playing all nine positions in a game, and his sister used to live in Michigan.

"I had talked to [Andrew] over the years he was here," Austin Romine said. "He spoke very highly of the organization and how they worked and the city, Lakeland and Detroit. The reputation of all those precedes them.

"But I've been trying to leave him be. He just had a baby girl."

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Romines will become the fourth pair of brothers to play for the Tigers. They'll join Dmitri (2002-06) and Delmon ('11-12) Young, Frank (1954-60) and Milt ('58) Bolling, Eddie ('12-13) and Jack ('12) Onslow, and Gee ('31-37) and Hub ('31, '35, '45) Walker.

Andrew Romine is now elsewhere, and their sister has since moved out of state. But thanks to opportunity, there's a Romine back in Detroit. And with a one-year, $4.1 million deal, Austin Romine has a chance to stake his claim to a starting catching job for the first time in his Major League career.

"The opportunity definitely stood out for me," he said. "Over the past few years, I've tried to put myself in a position where I could get more playing time, and Detroit had that to offer."

Romine had a chance at regular playing time with the Yankees in stretches over the past few years while Gary Sanchez was injured. Romine made 68 starts behind the plate in 2018, then 62 this past season. But it was clear all along that Sanchez is the Yankees' No. 1 catcher.

It's a different situation in Detroit, where the Tigers went without a clear-cut regular last year. No Tiger caught more than 60 games last season, and Grayson Greiner led the team with 57 starts. Greiner is back, but John Hicks is a free agent, Jake Rogers is likely headed back to Triple-A Toledo and Bobby Wilson is retired.

Finding help behind the plate was a must for general manager Al Avila. Once free-agent catchers started signing quickly, including former Tiger Alex Avila to Minnesota, it became more urgent.

"Signing an experienced catcher was high on our list of offseason priorities, and we believe Austin will have an impact, both on the field and in the clubhouse," Al Avila said. "He's a proven leader and game caller who has earned respect around the league for the tenacious and passionate manner in which he plays the game."

Those qualities take on particular importance learning a new, relatively young pitching staff that will only get younger as the season rolls on and prospects begin to arrive.

"When you deal with younger, talented guys coming up, it's important to have a good relationship with any catcher," Romine said. "I think the most important thing is not only to earn the respect of a pitching staff, but also create relationships built on trust. Guys have to trust you if they're going to throw to you."