Brian Fuentes Retires

Left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes has retired from baseball, reports Sean Lynch of The Merced Sun-Star. He said he feels fine physically, but the time away from his family was too much.

"Ultimately, I was just having trouble with the time away from my family," said Fuentes. "I've been playing baseball for all of their lives, but I'd never been so far away as when I was in St. Louis … I think at one point I went like two months without seeing them. Coming home and being able to put them to bed at night made me realize what I was missing."

Fuentes, 37, pitched to a 7.20 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 30 innings for the Athletics and Cardinals this year. He had his most success as a closer with the Rockies several years ago, pitching to a 3.04 ERA with 111 saves with Colorado from 2005-2008. He helped the Rockies to the 2007 World Series and led the league with 48 saves while with the Angels in 2009.

Baseball-Reference.com says Fuentes earned just shy of $39MM during his big league career. Despite his poor year, a team surely would have given him a chance next season given his left-handedness and track record.