Dodgers lefty Erik Bedard has decided to retire, according to a tweet from the club’s High-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga. He has seen action in parts of eleven big league seasons.
Bedard, 36, was only just returning to action after suffering a strained muscle in his back. He had thrown 14 1/3 innings at the High-A level on the season, striking out seven and walking one while allowing eight earned runs.
The southpaw is well removed from his heyday, but was once one of the more effective starters in the game. Pitching for the Orioles, he came in fifth in the Cy Young voting back in 2007, when he threw 182 innings of 3.16 ERA ball with a league-leading 10.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
That big campaign led the Mariners’ to deal for him, forking over a prospect package fronted by Adam Jones and Chris Tillman to add him. Though Bedard continued to put up good results, shoulder issues bit hard and limited him to 255 1/3 frames over his three years in Seattle (plus another 38 after he was dealt to the Red Sox in the middle of 2011).
Bedard has bounced around since, putting up solid strikeout numbers but failing to hold down the free passes. All told, Bedard has racked up just over 1,300 big league innings of 3.99 ERA pitching while averaging 8.6 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and a 41.9% groundball rate.
Let the hall of fame discussion begin.
That was a fun second
Discussion or heated debate on the fact that Bedard is eligible?
He won’t even get the 5% to stay on the ballot for a year.
Thanks for the good years and thanks for Jones and Tillman… hope you enjoy retirement
The Mariners will always remember making that great trade- sending Adam Jones to Baltimore for Bedard!
Mariners obviously got the better of that deal….it allowed room for Ackley on the roster to ply his skills at beard grooming in a major league clubhouse. Anyone can learn to hit around major league hitters and coaches. Not everyone practices proper trimming
I believe before Ackley it allowed Milton Bradley to sign a $30,000,000 three-year contract with the Mariners. Anybody remember how bad he was as a player and person?
Ahhh…old Milton Bradley, motivational speaker extraordinare. Smiled, laughed and giggles that team into nowhere. Had all the personable talents of Albert Belle with a fraction of the pesky baseball skills
Didn’t he also sell board games in the off season?
Door to door…I bought Battleship and Chutes and Ladders from him….man..he was a sore loser at Chutes and Ladders
I would think he is a sore loser at LIFE, also.
Ironically, he was delusional about that game. He never seemed to comprehend that he was losing
LOL very nice.
I believe Bradley will someday be an eligible candidate for the Albert “Joey” Belle Hall Of Fame. They both had that same persona about them. Lousy.
He was traded to Seattle, and he is in jail now for domestic abuse.
Yeah, that was after the Indians got tired of Milton Bradley and his games.
Gene, Bradley was one of the worst signings in club history. The guy was radioactive.
Lets hope one of the laziest, contract sitting players in the history of the game finally ceases to con a GM into giving him another chance and is bid adeau to the game for good.
I second that. There have been very few MLB players who I actively dislike, and Bedard is one of them. It was always all about him.
The thing is.. You could actively see it him on the mound even when he was pitching and getting shelled, yet some gullible GM kept giving him a contract to sign on the dotted line..
What is that old saying about a certain type of person and their money parting ways? That’s what Bedard was after and will always be after.
Good luck in retirement if you ever read this Mr. Bedard
Not one of the Mariners better trade moments.