Former Marlins and Rays pitcher Adam Conley is retiring, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com (Twitter link). The left-hander steps away from the game after an 11-year professional career that included parts of six big league seasons.
The then-Florida Marlins selected Conley out of Washington State University in the second round of the 2011 draft. Over the next few years, he was regarded as one of the better arms in the Marlins system, and he debuted in the majors in 2015. Conley immediately offered capable mid-rotation production, pitching to a 3.82 ERA and holding opponents to a .253/.335/.398 slash line in 200 1/3 combined innings over his first two seasons.
Things went off the rails in 2017, though. Conley’s average fastball velocity dropped around two MPH (from 91.9 to 90) and his strikeout rate ticked down. He allowed a 6.14 ERA in 22 outings before hitting the injured list with finger tendinitis that August. The following season, the Fish moved Conley to the bullpen.
He rather remarkably added more than five ticks to his heater in relief, averaging north of 95 MPH in 2018. Conley pitched to a decent 4.09 ERA in 50 2/3 innings out of the ’pen that season, but he struggled in 2019. He didn’t pitch at all in 2020, as he spent a month on the COVID-19 injured list before Miami designated him for assignment and outrighted him off their 40-man roster. Conley signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball last winter but returned stateside in May after Japan’s pandemic protocols prevented his family from joining him in Sendai.
The 31-year-old signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay last season and was selected onto the big league club in August. He worked 19 2/3 innings of 2.29 ERA ball down the stretch. The Rays nevertheless designated him for assignment after the season and he became a minor league free agent upon clearing waivers.
There’s little doubt Conley could’ve at least gotten another minors deal with an invitation to big league camp this spring had he wanted to keep pitching. He’s apparently decided to step away from the game instead, leaving with a 4.71 ERA over 434 MLB innings. Conley started 56 of his 191 appearances at the highest level. He struck out 374 batters and picked up 25 wins, five saves and 22 holds. MLBTR congratulates Conley on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.
Enjoy!
That is one funky delivery
Had to wait until after the lockout, lol.
Dang that’s surprising! His Career earnings is under 3 million and he easily could’ve doubled that with a one year deal this off-season with how he pitched last year.
Earnings over 3 million, closer to 4.
Not showing 2018 and 2021, so more like 4.5
10 years—-> Pension
Only 4 years of service time he’s not getting the full pension.
Such a meh and blah ending considering what he could’ve been when he first came up. Sad that he stopped listening to coaching so early in his career, and regressed as a result until he flat out fell apart. Could’ve been a solid 3 or 4 starting pitcher in his career into his mid 30s. Stubborn doesn’t pay – for the player or the parent that enabled it.
There’s so much wrong with this that it’s not even worth addressing in any detail.
Good luck on the next chapter of your life. And to your detractors who weren’t impressed with your career just ask if any of them had the talent and persistence to become what most of us dream of–being a pro athlete!
I know that I didn’t have the talent. That was not my point. My point was what we Marlins fans remember happened with him down here. He stopped listening to the coaches. That’s a fact. The rumors related to it was that his father was a source of it.
Conley was very talented. He was on his way to maximizing it. He stopped listening to the guys that were able to get him there, in favor of guys who did not have the ability to bring him there. He’s another guy that wasted his talent because he became uncoachable.
If you all are going to comment against a Marlins fan about Marlins stuff, at least know something about the Marlins. But I guess troll efforts don’t need knowledge.
we Marlins fans lol
no i seen it as his confidence was was not there . don was making lot of pitching calls. some pitcher dont need to be move to bullpen unless done in minors. always good guy also.
we see lot of Picher do better after leaving don
@You Can Put It In The Books
You can’t address it because you know I’ll once again expose that you speak out of your ash with zero facts. I imagine that must suck to have someone do that to you. So why don’t you do us both a favor and just troll someone else instead of someone that will call you out for your BS comments.
you ant say that 100% when you have don calling pitches most of the time ..
and when moving sp to bull pen hurt his confidence. .. not only pitcher we seen have same problem.
but agree with you 50%
but done has change some for the better
Go cougs!
For some reason I vividly remember him coming out of the pen in the one Marlins – Rangers game in which the Marlins won like 22-9 or so and Beltre moved the on-deck circle. Thank you for reminding me of that game, Conley. Happy retirement to you.
Edit: The game ended 22-10. I almost got it.
Who? Well I guess that can refer to anyone from the ZERO time World Champions.
See you in Cooperstown! Tickets are $25…
I’ll always remember him for starting the first game the Marlins played after Jose Fernandez’ passing.
Good riddance to Conley who had a 1.85 ERA in 57.1 IP against the Mets
lol remember that
I remember having him in Fantasy in 2016(?) and he’d do fine up until he got to the 7th inning and he would typically fall apart. Frustrating but I always thought he had the potential to do better.
That’s why analytics have told managers to stop letting starters go 3rd time through the order.
Adam Conley, MLB TS Franchise Legend for me
25 more wins and 374 more strikeouts than any critic on this page. Good luck, Adam.
Adam probably would have gotten another contract for this year on some team I’m guessing but maybe he is ready for a new chapter. Congrats on your baseball career.
Never even heard of this guy before this post.
Gosh, he’s solid enough to keep getting a deal. In terms of baseball years as a pitcher, he definitely has more in it and has a lot of money to earn in a relatively modest earnings thus far… his decision though I suppose