One more for now...

If you follow the Alumni Updates on this blog, you may have noticed the lack of Shawn Estes ('95) starts for Albuquerque in the PCL of late.

It took me awhile, so I decided to check if he had been hurt, or traded, or something.

A quick Google News search for Shawn Estes reveals...something....starting in late June.

Former NV high school baseball star retires

According to a published report, former Douglas High School star Shawn Estes' baseball career is over.

The L.A. Daily News reports that Estes, a former 19-game winner for the San Francisco Giants, recently retired after pitching this season for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

The 36-year-old Estes had considered retirement after failing to make the Los Angeles Dodgers' opening day roster.

But he decided to give Albuquerque a try, going 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA for the Isotopes.

Baseball: Estes not retired, contrary to media reports

While it was reported in several media publications last week that former Douglas High standout Shawn Estes had retired from baseball, those reports have proven not to be true.

Reports surfaced on a citizen journalist's blog on examiner.com the evening of June 18 that Estes, who had been pitching for the Dodger's Triple-A minor legaue club in New Mexico, had retired.

Chicago Tribune baseball writer Mark Gonzales first reported on his Twitter page that Estes had indeed not retired the following afternoon, refuting that report.

"Shawn Estes says he hasn't retired, feels good, can't get release from Dodgers," Gonzales said.

One of Estes' family members confirmed that report to The R-C the same day, saying he is attempting to get a release in hopes of catching on with another team in need of left-handed talent at the major league level.

Shawn Estes is a major leaguer, and don't you dare say otherwise

Former Giants pitcher Shawn Estes, who would have attended Stanford if he hadn't turned pro, is known as a pretty smart guy. This belief persists after he stole a police bike for a joyride in Los Gatos; after he forgot to slide in the 2000 playoffs, a gaffe that played all sorts of havoc with the rotation and bullpen; and after such baffling inconsistency that he sought help from a sports psychologist.

In that light, this could be the perfect career coda for the left-hander. It certainly is among the oddest holdouts you'll ever see.

Estes, in a long interview with his hometown Reno Gazette-Journal, disputed reports that he had retired at age 36.

"I retired from Triple-A, let's put it that way," he said.

Ah. Makes perfect sense.

Estes explained that after going 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA with Albuquerque, the Dodgers' top farm team, he doesn't see himself as a minor league pitcher. Because the team with the major leagues' best record doesn't have room for him right now, he went home. And because he and his agent neglected to ask for a release date if he hadn't been promoted — something that's standard procedure for older players but one he didn't think he needed because "I didn't feel I was ever going to pitch in Triple-A" — he is at the mercy of the big league club to trade him.

Estes said every team has been notified of his predicament and Dodgers G.M. Ned Colletti is willing to work out some kind of trade, but the appeal to his old Giants buddy to simply release him have fallen on deaf ears because "it is a big business." (Funny, but the $22.5 million he has made since 1995 somehow didn't clue him in on that big business part.)

"Mentally, I wasn't into it. I needed the big league atmosphere and big league hitters to get those juices flowing," Estes said.

So the obvious way of demonstrating his competitive fire is to go home, sit around for a month and let his arm get out of shape.

Ex-Met Estes' awful comeback plan

Estes was 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA for Triple-A Albuquerque before he apparently decided he was too good for minor-league baseball.

"I didn't feel I was ever going to pitch in Triple-A," Estes told his hometown paper.

With a lifetime 4.71 ERA, I am not sure how he came to that conclusion. But anyway, he is still property of the Dodgers and GM Ned Coletti is open to offers.

Think the Mets could get him back for a David Wright , Johan Santana package? Or what about Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia?

Half a bag of baseballs is the best offer Coletti should expect, though.

Estes is best remembered in New York as the guy who threw behind Roger Clemens as revenge for the Yankees pitcher throwing a shattered bat at Mike Piazza. He hasn't been missed.

That last one is from the New York Post....in case you couldn't tell.