Carlos Delgado will announce his retirement tomorrow, tweets Noel Pineiro of El Nuevo Día.
Back in February, Delgado told MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez he did not want to retire, which is why he went through multiple hip surgeries. He last played in the Majors in May of 2009.
Delgado finishes with a strong .280/.383/.546 line with 473 home runs across 17 seasons with the Blue Jays, Marlins, and Mets. His OBP ranks 149th all-time, while his slugging percentage ranks 28th. We know him as a first baseman, though Delgado caught in the minors and played left field early in his big league career.
He earned almost $150MM in his career, according to Baseball Reference. Alex Rodriguez has been the highest paid player in baseball since December of 2000, but Delgado is the most recent player besides Rodriguez to have had that distinction. The David Sloane client signed a four-year, $68MM deal that briefly made him the highest paid player in the game after the 2000 season.
I still love Carlos. Wish he’d have gotten 500.
Carlos is a piece of crap. A guy who made all this American money cant stand for my national anthem? I hope he gets hit by a freakin bus dude
Who said it’s YOUR national anthem anyway?
shut up Racist
Always liked the guy. Wish him the best.
That’s a shame. Good career.
why is it a shame? he tried a come back and showed that his injuries took way too much of a toll on his body and he cant play any more.
I think he meant it’s a shame his career was derailed by injuries and ended this way. Not every comment requires an argument.
Exactly, in a general sense, it is nice if people get to end their careeer on their own terms. There was no point in a major league team signing him because he would not have added value at this stage of his career. But in my mind, he deserves HOF consideration based on the past years. Even if he falls slightly short of the HOF, he was an awesome player and unquestionably in the HOF mix in my book.
Kevin recently explained to me that he is in favor of players playing as long as they can – no matter what. As long as they love the game he thinks it’s great for them to keep going – even if they are not particularly good (ie: Ian Snell, whose retirement prompted that remark).
Did I get it right, Kev?
I went and saw Delgado play for the Paw Sox last year. I’m all for it. AJCBE is correct. It’s a shame how is career ended. You can tell Delgado was willing to play for even the minimum, so I support him 100%. Opposed to Dye who won’t realize his career is coming to an end and demands more than he should or someone like Manny who seems to have zero problem leaving the game.
Hopefully he can continue being an ambassador for both baseball and basebol.
beisbol*
Sucks his hip sidelined his career. His 400th HR was part of one of the best comeback games I’ve seen.
I was at the game too! Though, as a Cardinal fan, I consider that one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.
Now I can finally hold my Delgado retirement party…my chips and dip are probably stale by now though
Carlos will always be the man
Hey he tried, but recognized it was time to hang them up. Got to respect that.
It’s certainly better then going the Jermaine Dye route for sure.
Jermaine Dye had a money vs effort decision. Do I think he chose incorrectly, yes, but it not like he did anything wrong that demeaned baseball. He decided that he was worth so much and did not play unless he got that much. Whether he was worth that much is irrelevant, he was a player at the end of his career, that is the time to let money dictate if you play or not.
I think mlbtraderumors.com beat Carlos to the punch at announcing it.
I wish the Blue Jays would have signed him to a one-day contract so he could retire as a Blue Jay.
I doubt Carlos would care about that
I agree.
Carlos, I will always remember that swing of yours – the sweetest I’ve ever seen. ¡Gracias hermano!
Liked him as a Blue Jay, LOVED him as a Met. By far, my favorite Met in recent memory.
I hate the way his career had to end because before his hip acted up, I believed he would’ve hit his 500th HR as a Met. I was so happy for him when he finally got the chance to perform in the playoffs in ’06 and man, did he shine for us in the NLDS & NLCS. My favorite memory of him (besides the 4 HR game) was the “Carlos Delgado Show” in June ’08 when he practically single handedly tore the Yankees apart (A game I’m proud to say I attended) and had that 9 RBI game. Before then, a lot of people were saying how his career was over and stuff because of his slow start that season (neglecting the fact that he was still recovering from a broken wrist/hand that he suffered in the last game of the ’07 season). I will never understand how people believe(d) he was such a “clubhouse cancer” when the fact is that he carried us on many occasions.
I’ll miss you, Carlos. Goodbye & good luck in whatever you do in the future.
Amen.
What I remember in particular was that somehow he managed to homer on many Sundays – must have been back in 2007 or something. Particularly convenient for me since when I could go to games it was usually on a Sunday. And he didn’t just make my day on those Sundays…he carried the whole team on his back!!
I’m liking this strictly to give you props for your username. (good post too)
Whoa, I was at that game too!
great comment, I agree with every sentiment. I’m going to rock my Delgado Jersey to the next Met game I go to!
I still wear mine regularly myself. Brings some Major League flavor to “casual” Fridays! 🙂
Yes sir. He absolutely carried the offense in the second half of ’08. He was a MONSTER.
Loved watching him hit back in the days when Shawn Green introduced him to PED’s. Bueno suerto Carlos.
* buena suerte
It doesn’t hurt to spell things correctly when making steroid allegations – whatever the language.
Muchos graciasses.
De nerd-a
Another player who, while never caught, will always be suspected for PED use much like Bagwell and Larry Walker among others!
Perhaps the greatest Blue Jay of all time. He was always my favourite, always a class act. Can’t wait to see him in cooperstown wearing a Jays cap.
Hopefully he’ll be honoured with an elevation to the Level of Excellence at the Blue Jays’ 2012 home opener.
My favourite player of all-time. There was something so beautiful about watching him swing for the fences – his home run cut was absolutely effortless. I remember trying to imitate him as a kid.
I agree 100%. There was something about an under the radar superstar that also made me a fan.
I always loved how his eyes would go as wide as saucers when he saw a ball in his wheelhouse…seriously, it was like clock work, he always knew when he was about to crunch one. If he were still a Met he’d laugh at people complaining about the size of Citi.
As a fan of the Metropolitans, I would love to see him come back as a coach or in some other capacity.
Carlos, I will always remember as a mariners fan, trembling whenever you stepped up to the dish. In my head I would think “Change up away, change up away!”. You still managed to hit the change up away. One of my favorite players to watch! Good luck!
Beltran, Delado, Wright… most dangerous 3,4,5 hitters 06-08. 🙁 bye carlos
I remember meeting him at a work Christmas party in Toronto the night before he signed the big extension with the Blue Jays. He seemed like a really nice guy. Chatted with him for a little bit and he was very open with the other people at the party.
I never liked him as a player though. He was too mean to my Red Sox. :p
Basesbol, has a been a very good to me.