The Rays have released Matt Bush, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). The former first overall pick is still incarcerated following a DUI charge in Spring Training. He was on both the 40-man roster and restricted list all season.
Bush, 26, pitched to a 4.83 ERA with 13.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 50 1/3 relief innings for Tampa Bay's Double-A affiliate in 2011. The Padres originally drafted him as a shortstop with the top pick in 2004, but a lack of production and off-the-field issues stunted his development.
Strike 8?
A 13.8K/9 innings is pretty good. The 4.3 BB K/9 is pretty bad though… If he did not have these off the field issues, I’m sure many teams would take a chance on him.
25 year old former #1 overall should be striking out quite a few in AA.
For starters he was drafted as a short stop.
I thought he was drafted as a split season guy.. like Casey Kelly was originally and he would throw like 50-75IP and then switch to SS the rest of the season his 1st year-2 before the padres (and Bush) figured out exactly which position was best for his career trajectory?
Granted.. Didn’t look up his MiLB history and am only going from what *thought* was his Padres past.
The only AA this guy will be seeing is Alcoholics Anonymous…
A pick that high should have been in MLB by this time.
Still funny that Padres passed on Verlander, Hughes, Niemann, Bailey, and Weaver among others because they want to spend the money.
*didn’t want to spend the money*
dogers passed up david price and paul goldschmidt in same draft!
What was point of keeping him on the 40 man roster, then?
“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”- Sonny, A Bronx Tale
I’m not sure how anyone gives that statement a down vote…
I guess because Matt Bush wasn´t that talented
Still incarcerated?? Was it like a 6 month jail sentence?
Bush was driving an SUV that allegedly struck a motorcycle driven by a 72-year-old man near Tampa Bay’s spring training home in Port Charlotte, Fla. Bush reportedly fled the site of the crash that left Anthony Tufano in serious condition. Bush’s blood alcohol level was measured at .180, more than twice the legal limit.
A witness said Bush showed “an absolute disregard for human life”:
Matt Bush is still being held on $440,000 bail, which he has been unable to make from the aforementioned story described by @RATTY1:disqus. I would personally be shocked if ever is in baseball in any capacity again…he can pretty much be penciled in a bigger bust than Steve Chilicott (plateaued at AAA) or Brien Taylor (who suffered an injury in a bar fight, and whose story took a turn back in June to be just as sorry an episode as that of Matt Bush’s).
@Dynasty22:disqus – Bush was arrested late in spring training; once Bush was placed on the restricted list, he was removed from the 40-man roster but could not be traded.
Ah ok. I thought he was on the 40-man.
This sounds almost like the Josh Hamilton story. Hopefully, he can get his act together and be a decent MLB player.
This is much worse than Josh Hamilton…Hamilton was never arrested. Bush has a checkered legal past:
June 2004 (just after being drafted): arrested at a bar fight in Arizona
Summer 2008: another bar fight in Peoria, IL
Early 2009: drunken altercation at a San Diego-area high school (the Padres DFA’ed him as a result).
June 2009 (he was out of baseball by this time after being cut by the Blue Jays): DUI and vandalism
March 2012: See @RATTY1:disqus’s post…and he was driving a teammate’s vehicle to get around restrictions from the 2009 case.
No matter how much time (or time served awaiting trial) Bush ends up spending, I can’t see him in baseball again. Bush would likely have been pitching this season in AAA had he not decided to get boozed up behind the wheel.
Yeah. Hamilton only ever hurt himself. You’re right: not that similar.
Josh Hamilton also doesn’t have a prior criminal record, unlike Matt Bush.
mind over matter.
fractured mind means talent doesn’t matter
What a waste, there’s a lot of guys that would kill to have the talent this guy has/had/could have had and the chances and opportunities as well. It’s one thing to Get drafted in the first round and then struggle just to fade away but to be drafted first overall and then flush your career down the toilet over and over and over again… just brutal. No more chances for this clown,, see yah and good luck with your job in the food service industry.
What a “doosh”, this kid is….