Blue Jays release former All-Star pitcher Ricky Romero

When Ricky Romero was named to the All-Star game in 2011 it appeared it was just the start of a long and prosperous career with the Toronto Blue Jays. Then he suddenly lost the ability to pitch effectively at the major league level and now his career in Toronto is over.

The Blue Jays released Romero on Saturday, less than four years after he received that All-Star nod. He was in the final year of a five-year, $30.1 million extension he signed back in 2010 and general manager Alex Anthopoulos decided that since he wasn’t likely to contribute this season it was best to let him go.

From the Associated Press:

“We made the determination we just didn’t think by the end of the year he was going to be able to factor for us up here,” general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “We felt it was best just to give him the opportunity to get a head start somewhere else. It was the right thing for him.”

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Romero’s mound meltdown really started in 2012, when he he issued a league-high 105 walks in 181 innings and his ERA jumped from 2.92 in his All-Star year to 5.77. He last pitched for Toronto in 2013, giving up nine runs and walking eight in 7 1/3 innings and began 2014 in Triple-A, pitching there briefly before suffering a knee injury and undergoing season-ending surgery.

While Romero is still rehabbing, Sportsnet’s Barry Davis indicates that the 30-year-old left-hander will seek an opportunity to prove himself elsewhere when he returns to full health:

AA says Romero was grateful for his time with #bluejays. He still plans to pitch again and hopes to catch on with another organization.

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) April 25, 2015

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There are certainly some parallels in Romero’s story to the precipitous decline of fellow lefty Dontrelle Willis. Like Willis, Romero got off to a great start in the big leagues. After finding success though, a combination of injuries and control issues made it impossible to regain those heights. At his peak the strong-willed Romero had a reputation as a bulldog on the mound. He knows that getting back to the majors won’t be easy, but he isn’t ready to give up yet – it’s just not in his nature.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr