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Eric Byrnes Retires

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 13, 2010 at 8:30am CDT

When Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik offered to call other teams up and measure interest in Eric Byrnes, the left fielder told him not to. Byrnes told Zduriencik and Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu that he is ‘done,’ writes Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"To be honest, I don't really have any interest,” Byrnes said. “I've never been scared for it to be done, for life after baseball, and it's not because I didn't love the game."

Byrnes, who first told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports of his retirement from the game, now plays softball every Wednesday for a slow pitch team (check the Chronicle article out for some memorable photos). Byrnes told Morosi it's time for him to surf, golf and read his daughter bedtime stories.

"Am I retired from baseball? Yes. Am I retired from life? Not even close."

Reports hinted that Byrnes could retire earlier in the month, after the Mariners released him. He wraps his career up with a .258/.320/.439 line compiled with five teams. He will have pocketed a total of $39MM by the end of the season, according to Baseball-Reference. The D'Backs are paying Byrnes most of his $11MM salary this year, with the Mariners contributing $400K.

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32 Comments

  1. DepletedOrange

    15 years ago

    The SFChronicle link goes to the Giants page.
    sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/13/S…
    Is the hard link to the Byrnes story

    Reply
  2. suffern

    15 years ago

    Just wondering, since I was dumb enough to draft Brynes in my draft, can I get his softball stats to count in my fantasy league? 🙂

    Reply
  3. CrustyJuggler

    15 years ago

    Who would ever draft Byrnes in a fantasy league??? Are you in a 30 team league or something? He wasn’t even a starter. lol

    Anyway. Good for Byrnes!!! Still a young guy that has his health and 40 million to do whatever he wants in life. He’ll be living the life most of us can only dream about.

    Reply
  4. atlbraves2010

    15 years ago

    i would be scared of playing slow pitch against him….he would crush the ball

    Reply
    • NYBravosFan10

      15 years ago

      lol, that’s why slow pitch soft ball is so awesome. I was lousy for my local teener league baseball team but you should see what I can do to a softball now.

      Reply
    • jdub220

      15 years ago

      He’d more likely pop it up to the second baseman.

      Reply
    • 55saveslives

      15 years ago

      I’d like to see him make a catch in LF and do his somersault throw home!

      Reply
  5. AmericanMovieFan

    15 years ago

    Good for Byrnsie. I’ll be sad to see him go. He was never amazing with the bat, but kudos to him getting that insane $30MM deal. I’m sure that helped leaving be that much easier for him. Probably would’ve tasted bitter had he just left with the $9MM.

    Reply
    • $1519287

      15 years ago

      I’d be willing to retire for 9mm. Good for him though to retire on his terms. Sad to see when an athlete is afraid to walk away either because he can’t afford to, or because he knows nothing else.

      Reply
      • AmericanMovieFan

        15 years ago

        Sure, in real world value $9MM is plenty. But when you factor in union fees, club house fees, agent fees, all the various taxes, etc. and then consider that all you do is play baseball and you’ll no longer get paid for that…not very much money.

        Reply
  6. Scott_T

    15 years ago

    Kind of surprised he didn’t mention getting into television, still wouldn’t surprise me if he eventually did.

    Reply
    • venn177

      15 years ago

      Wasn’t he hosting the playoffs a few years back after the D’backs got eliminated?

      Reply
  7. Chris

    15 years ago

    Guarantee he becomes a anchor on the MLB Network or on Baseball Tonight. I remember in MVP Baseball 05 he was the shiznit. He would always be their in the 7th round and be a steal.

    Reply
  8. Chris

    15 years ago

    Also, I remember when he was traded from OAK to COL, then COL to BAL in like a 3 day span.

    Reply
  9. nelson_c

    15 years ago

    He still gets paid for the rest of the year, even if he retires?

    Reply
    • TimotheusATL

      15 years ago

      I think the player only forfeits pay if retiring while on the active roster. Byrnes was released by the club, so the club would still be obligated to pay out the contract (unless the player signs with another club, in which case the new club pays the prorated minimum salary).

      Reply
  10. The_Silver_Stacker

    15 years ago

    Congrats Byrnes enjoy retirement. Wonder if he will do his ESPN gig again he was interesting to listen to.

    Reply
    • GasLampGuru

      15 years ago

      Byrnes is a little crazy and ‘out there’, but he knew the game and made for an interesting color analyst. He’ll do well as an analyst for MLB Network or ESPN. He’ll be calling games by the All Star break (probably will do a cameo for the All Star game like he did a few years ago).

      He was never the most talented player, and was an adventure defensively, but he always scared me when he hit against the Padres. He NEVER got cheated on any swing, and was always coming out of his shoes.

      Reply
  11. deadspy3

    15 years ago

    Does he have the worst slash line for someone who has earned ~ $40m in his career? Must be close.

    Reply
    • Infield Fly

      15 years ago

      Most assuredly – but sadly, he won’t be the last.

      Reply
  12. jwredsox

    15 years ago

    HALL OF FAME

    Reply
  13. bomberj11

    15 years ago

    I wish I got that type of money to do nothing. (*sigh*)

    Reply
    • Yankees420

      15 years ago

      Hey he’s not doing nothing, the man is surfing, golfing, and reading bedtime stories to his daughter.

      Reply
  14. 22gigantes

    15 years ago

    Is it me or does Byrnes look like he’s tweaking?

    Reply

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