Jeremy Guthrie talks about the start that ended his career - MLB

Future Hall of Fame ballplayers get to decide when they want to retire. They announce it ahead of time and are feted on the occasion of their final game.

Mere star ballplayers often experience a decline and, ultimately, failure, but they get often get several shots with various teams even after they’re unable to contribute. Their careers end gradually in that way. They’ve earned those extra shots other players may not get.

Ordinary ballplayers either call it a career after the end of a season, having made a personal decision not to play anymore. Or, if not then, after a season begins and they remain unsigned for an extended period. It’s not a notable thing to the general public and, often, the general public just says “oh, Shlabotnik isn’t playing anymore?”

With all due respect to Jeremy Guthrie, he’s probably in the “ordinary player” category. He had double digit wins a few times and pitched in a World Series, but he’s the sort of guy who we’d expect to simply fade away after failing to latch on. Most of us would not necessarily notice when his major league career ended unless we were super big fans of his or one of the teams he played for.

Except we do know that Guthrie’s career ended. And when. And how. It ended ignominiously, on April 8 of this season, when, while pitching for the Washington Nationals, he allowed ten runs on six hits and four walks in only two-thirds of an inning against the Phillies. He went home after that, asked for his release from the Nats and, at age 38, is almost certainly never going to pitch again.

Today Mark Zuckerman has a story about Guthrie and how he’s been doing since that start. How he feels about it and how odd a role it has proven to play in his life and career. It’s a pretty fascinating story because we don’t usually hear about when guys burn out — or when they fade away — unless there’s some other element to it like an improbable comeback or a dramatic injury or something. Here it’s just about Guthrie taking one more shot at at the bigs and missing. And moving on.

It’s not a depressing read or anything — Guthrie sounds like he’s in a good place with all of it — and I think it’s cool to hear about an aspect of a big league career that we don’t often know much about.

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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.