The Blue Jays released relief pitcher Steve Delabar on Tuesday.ANTHONY BOLANTE/Reuters
One by one, players – mostly veterans who have been there themselves – sidled up to Steve Delabar as he sat quietly at his locker in the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse, absently checking messages on his smartphone.
Fellow pitcher R.A. Dickey stopped by to offer condolences, as did Brett Cecil, a reliever-in-arms who would understand better than most the fickle nature of trying to scratch out a living as another arm in the bullpen.
Inevitably, the hushed conversations would involve a pat on the shoulder, a warm embrace, a few consoling words.
"I want to give you a hug," proclaimed Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ as he walked over.
And, for a moment, the spectacle of two burly professional athletes embracing tempered the normally testosterone-charged climate of a Major League Baseball clubhouse.
It felt like a funeral Tuesday morning at the Blue Jays spring training facility, and in a way it was.
Delabar, one of the more popular players in the Blue Jays family, had just received word that he was being cut from the team, so players and coaches were bidding him farewell.
"It's tough with Delabar," said manager John Gibbons, who delivered the eulogy to reporters on behalf of management. "Stevie's been part of this since I got back. He's pitched really good for us at times, he made the all-star team. You hate to see him go."
Delabar's departure from the team was like a slow death as his effectiveness as a reliever has been spiralling downward ever since he played in that 2013 All-Star Game.
Last season began for him in Triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons, so Delabar only got into 31 games for the Blue Jays, posting a 2-0 record with a 5.22 earned-run average.
And with a slew of new bullpen arms arriving in the off-season, including Drew Storen, Gavin Floyd and Jesse Chavez, and the fact that Delabar was out of minor-league options, the 32-year-old knew there was a strong likelihood he'd be moving on.
He got the word officially on Tuesday, along with 40-year-old pitcher Randy Choate, as the Blue Jays are getting close to finalizing their 25-man roster in advance of Sunday's regular-season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"I wasn't told [I had] any other choices," Delabar said, accepting the news with resigned dignity. "They just told me I'm not going to make the team and I was going to be put on release waivers, best of luck."
The move was not really surprising given the stiff competition for limited bullpen openings on this year's club, although Delabar said he felt he had showed enough during spring training to earn a roster spot.
"I felt like I had a good enough spring that I could have made this team," said Delabar, who had pitched to a 2.35 ERA over 7 2/3 innings in eight Grapefruit League games. "But they didn't see it that way. But I'm okay with it. My body's where I need it to be and my stuff's back, and I might be able to get an opportunity with another team."
The Blue Jays' final home game of the spring here Tuesday against the Rays was rained out in the second inning. Their split-squad contest in Lakeland, Fla., against the Detroit Tigers was washed out in the third.
The Blue Jays are expected to finalize their roster on Wednesday and reveal the final makeup of the bullpen, which will probably be eight deep, at least for the first week of the season.
Toronto will be able to carry that extra reliever if they follow through on their plan to put starting pitcher Marco Estrada, who has been slowed at camp with a back ailment, on the disabled list.
The move would be strictly precautionary as Estrada says he has fully recovered from the stiffness that had bothered him earlier in camp.
But as Toronto only needs four starters the first week of the season that includes an off day, the plan is to put Estrada on the DL for a little extra rest.
Estrada then would be eligible to make his first start in Toronto on April 17 against the Boston Red Sox, and his return would force the Blue Jays to pare back their bullpen to seven.
Delabar's back story is fascinating considering he was forced out of the game in 2009 when he fractured his right elbow while pitching in the minor leagues.
Despite the insertion of a steel plate to solidify the joint, Delabar was out of baseball in 2010 and was working as a substitute teacher in Kentucky when he started working out his arm by throwing weighted balls.
When his velocity got back up to the mid-90s, that was enough for the Seattle Mariners to offer him a minor-league deal and he made his way back to the big leagues late in the 2011 season.
Delabar first arrived in Toronto in July, 2012, when he was obtained in a trade with the Mariners in exchange for Eric Thames.
Being name an all-star in 2013 was one of Delabar's career highlights. So, too, was the time that same season when he enjoyed an "immaculate inning," striking out three Oakland A's hitters on the minimum nine pitches.
Delabar said he hopes to be able to stay in baseball, but right now, with a new season about to start, finding a job at any level might be tough.
"My job is to play baseball and get an opportunity and put myself in the position to play in the big leagues," he said. "And so if that means going to the minor leagues, then that's something I've got to do.
"I don't plan to stop playing any time soon. So I'm going to keep doing what I do and hopefully catch on with someone. And we'll go from there."