Former Bucco Ian Snell has decided to retire after seven years in the majors.

Snell, 29, was drafted by the Pirates in the 26^th round of the 2000 draft.

His best season came in 2007 when he went 9-12 with a 3.76 ERA while striking out 177 batters in 208 innings.

 
In June of 2009, Snell pitched a 17 strikeout game for the Triple-A Indians. You can read the recap (by Indianapolis Indians radio broadcaster Scott McCauley) from the incredible game here. Snell was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2009 (along with Jack Wilson) for Ronny Cedeno, Jeff Clement and right-handed pitching prospects Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

Snell went 0-5 with 6.41 ERA in 12 games, eight of them starts, with the Seattle Mariners in 2010.

This past offseason, Snell signed a minor league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. He decided to retire after being optioned to the minors.

“The initial hope was he was going to be someone who could give us protection at (Class AAA) Memphis,” Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak said. “It’s not a huge hit to us at this point.”

He retires 38-53 with a 4.80 ERA.