Pirates Release Erik Bedard

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of baseball’s great stories this year, but have been sliding badly as of late. Last night, following yet another loss to yet another club they are chasing in the playoff race, the Pirates parted ways with left hander Erik Bedard.

Bedard has certainly had some bright moments for the Pirates, with whom he signed this past off-season. The idea, I’m sure, for Bedard was that he could land in Pittsburgh, show everyone he was healthy, and use this season to re-build his value on the market next winter. Somewhere along the way, however, he forgot to get people out.

Bedard currently leads the National League with 14 losses and only seven wins, and while his 5.01 ERA is unpleasant, it is roughly a full run higher than his peripheral stats say it should be, so he has pitched in some bad luck. It’s not as if he’s been stinking up the joint all season long or anything.

I’m kind of with Craig Calcaterra on this one; it smells like the Buccos are overreacting to a bad month of August. Bedard certainly hasn’t been dominant, but he’s still striking out close to a batter per inning and while his walk rate is higher than usual, it’s not unreasonably so. If I were a club that needed starting pitching, like maybe Bedard’s old Baltimore Orioles, I would be very interested in signing him.

For more on the Pirates, see Rum Bunter.