After attempting numerous comebacks over the past half decade, former Red Sox setup man Daniel Bard has opted to officially retire, he tells SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Bard chronicles the ups and downs of a once-promising career that was derailed by his inexplicable development of the yips and an an inability to throw strikes at any level. Bard reminds that he overcame a similar issue early in his career after being drafted, but injuries and recurring difficulties in locating the strike zone ultimately led him to retire after signing five unsuccessful minor league deals since his last big league appearance.
Here are some of the day’s other minor moves from around the league…
- The Indians announced on Thursday that they’ve signed left-hander Robert Zarate to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Zarate, 31 next month, didn’t pitch in 2016 or 2017 due to a spring elbow injury in ’16 that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Zarate has had a unique career, spending more time pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League than he has with MLB affiliates in his big league career. His 2015 campaign produced a 2.90 ERA with a 49-to-15 K/BB ratio and a 52.1 percent ground-ball rate in 40 1/3 with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate, however. Zarate has never reached the big league level in his career.
- The Rangers announced minor league deals for right-hander Steve Delabar and outfielder Destin Hood (via Twitter). Both players will be invited to Spring Training, per the announcement. Delabar didn’t pitch in 2017 after being popped for an 80-game suspension following a failed PED test. Delabar, 34, was an All-Star with the Blue Jays back in 2013 and served as a very effective member of Toronto’s relief corps from 2012-13 before declining in 2014-15. He has a career 4.07 ERA and has averaged better than 11 strikeouts per nine innings in 194 2/3 MLB frames. Hood, meanwhile, long rated as one of the Nationals’ more promising farmhands, but the former second-rounder’s career stalled in Triple-A. He spent the 2016-17 seasons in the Marlins organization and posted solid, albeit unspectacular numbers in Triple-A.
Bard was a jerk. Him and Papelbon would always laugh at the fans who were peeping over the bullpen trying to get autographs. Although he was decent for 1 or 2 years. He should’ve never became a starter! Sorry things didn’t work out, happy retirement!
Sorry he didn’t sign your hat, grown man.
I’d much rather root for a player that interacts with the fans and doesn’t think they’re better than everyone else because of where they’re at.
nymetsking… if they are in the MLB they are better than everyone else
They are certainly “better than” you at baseball.
Oh mercy! what will I ever do without this amateur players autograph?
Saw him sign plenty of things on the day I sat near the pen when he was in his “prime”, he seemed like a pretty amicable guy to me.
Liked him enough to buy his t-Shirt jersey. His best years were definitely better than decent.
Best of luck in retirement Daniel!
daniel bard was one of the most fan friendly players on the red sox team when he was playing for us. he was always signing autographes, ecspecially for kids. papelbon was another story. the red sox screwed him up making him a starter. best of luck daniel!!
Daniel Bard…. here’s your future, Dellin Betances.
Lol Daniel Bard wishes he had the career Betances has had.
Pretty sure Betances’ career has already surpassed that of Bard’s…….
I feel bad for Bard. The guy was awesome until that game in TOR… it all feel apart in that one inning it seemed
I remember. He got squeezed and lost his cool a little, then never found the zone again.
Sucks
Are you talking about Bard, Delabar, or something you saw on lebo’s A-Mart fan site above?
I got it, cardcollector18, aka Rainman
Tribe back to scouring the scrap heaps.
Not to pile on here, because the guy did have a couple of fine years in the majors…but his 2014 line – his entire output for 2014, mind – at class A in the Texas system is one for the record books. 0.2 innings, 0 hits, 9 walks, 7 HBP (!), and an ERA of 175.5. It’s difficult to imagine anybody being such a jerk as to deserve that. The 2016 and 2017 lines, both in the low-to-mid minors, were only marginally better so you have to give him credit for having the guts to keep trying.
You should look up Sam Militello’s line after his injury. He threw 3 innings one season and walked 19 batters.
I checked out Militello’s line. Very sad. Here was a young guy who rocketed through the minors – nobody could hit him – seemed firmly on the path to becoming an ace at the MLB level, and then…Poof. All Gone.
It might not seem like much, but I hope today he can look back and proudly say “I was good.”
Bard was a classic case of the yips. Once they hit they never go away. Sometimes they go into a period of remission, which happened with Bard who experienced them during his first year in organized ball, but they ALWAYS come back. The only reason he wanted to start was because he thought that the lower leverage situation might help but NOTHING helps.
Big Picture is that ecstasy and acid has long term effects. He should have stayed away from that crap when he was playing in Portland.