4-time All-Star reliever Betances retires (report)

Veteran reliever Dellin Betances has announced his retirement from baseball, per MLB Network insider Jon Heyman.

The 34-year-old, who spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors with the Yankees and Mets, signed a Minor League deal with the Dodgers in April, posting a 10.26 ERA in 16 2/3 innings with the rookie ACL Dodgers and Triple-A Oklahoma City. The club announced that he had been released Wednesday afternoon.

Originally taken by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2006 Draft, Betances was used exclusively as a starter in the Minors and was ranked MLB's No. 41 prospect ahead of the 2012 season. But persistent control issues resulted in a move to the bullpen, where he flourished -- in his first full Major League season in 2014, he posted a 1.40 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 90 innings of work, striking out 135 batters, good for a third place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Betances remained a mainstay in the Yankees bullpen until 2018, pitching to a 2.22 ERA and 1.02 WHIP across 349 appearances in those five seasons while collecting 36 saves and striking out 607 batters in 373 1/3 innings. He was also named to four consecutive AL All-Star teams from 2014-17.

A right shoulder impingement and a partially torn left Achilles tendon limited him to just one appearance in 2019, which would ultimately be his final year in the Bronx. Betances, a New York native, signed a one-year deal with the Mets in December 2019 but continued to struggle with shoulder injuries, making just 16 appearances over the next two seasons.

Betances ends his career with a 21-23 record and 36 saves, as well as the fifth-highest K/9 rate in baseball history (14.4, min. 300 innings pitched).