Fastball

Longtime Valuable Reliever Announces Retirement From Baseball After 16 Years

After 16 years in the big leagues, reliever Joe Smith has announced his retirement. He appeared in 866 career games for eight different franchises.

Brady Farkas

Longtime Valuable Reliever Announces Retirement From Baseball After 16 Years
Longtime Valuable Reliever Announces Retirement From Baseball After 16 Years /
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After 16 seasons in the big leagues, veteran reliever Joe Smith has announced his retirement. He appeared in 866 career games for eight different franchises.

Known for his submarine delivery, Smith debuted for the New York Mets in 2007. He stayed there for two seasons before landing in Cleveland, where he had a five-year run. With the Indians, he appeared in at least 50 games every single season.

He spent parts of three years with the Los Angeles Angels then part of one with the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays. He went back to Cleveland in 2017 for part of the year, then spent 2018-2021 in Houston. He was with the Mariners at the end of the 2021 season and then finished up in 2022 with the Twins.

All in all, Smith had a fantastic career that saw him go 55-34 with a 3.14 ERA. He appeared in 82 games back in 2008 for the Mets and never appeared in less than 34 games in a season. He threw more than 760 career innings.

His agency posted a lengthy statement from Smith on social media:

"With deep humility and gratitude, I am officially announcing my retirement from Major League Baseball after 16 remarkable years. I cherished the experience of sharing the great field with great teammates across eight franchises, backed by the most loyal fans.

To Erwin Bryant and the Mets organization, your belief in me launched my journey in 2006. I am forever grateful for your giving a sidewinding kid from Cincinnati a chance....

Strangers turned friends, friends into family, and I want to thank you for all that you have done throughout this incredible journey."

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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