Mariners outfielder Carlos Quentin confirms that he will retire from the game, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in a series of tweets. Quentin had been playing with Seattle’s top affiliate since inking a minor league deal, but left Tacoma last night.
Quentin, 32, has $8MM left on the deal that he originally signed with the Padres. San Diego shipped him to the Braves just before the start of the season, of course, as part of the salary swaps included in the Craig Kimbrel deal. Atlanta cut him loose in short order, eating the remainder of that contract.
The route being pursued currently would see Quentin retain his rights to that guaranteed money. Atlanta would have been able to earn some relief had Quentin continued playing, though that amount would not have exceeded the pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum salary.
The Mariners will technically grant Quentin his release, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (via Twitter), but that’s little more than semantics. Heyman notes that Quentin’s injuries will no longer allow him to play, which is the reason for his departure from Tacoma and his decision to retire.
The Mariners had hoped that Quentin would re-establish himself as a viable part-time bat, though obviously the team was not relying on that outcome and essentially took on no financial risk in signing him. Between 2008 and 2013, Quentin slashed a robust .260/.356/.503 with 136 long balls. But he has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons, making only 815 total plate appearances in that stretch.
Quentin confirmed in the press release that physical issues drove the decision to retire. “Over the past several days, it became clear to me that my injuries have taken too great of a physical toll for me to be able to perform at the level I expect from myself,” he explained. “As a result, I believe it is the right time for me to walk away and to refocus my energy on the next chapter of my life with my family.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
“In the process of retiring from baseball.” That describes the last 24 months of Quentin’s career pretty succinctly.
I’m glad someone else said it.
I mean, I know it’s easy to take cheap shots at Quentin and everyone likes to crack jokes, but the guy hit .275/.363/.493 in 82 games in 2013, with half of them coming at Petco. Quentin was a consistently excellent hitter for the better part of six MLB seasons — his body just didn’t hold up.
Agreed. He could always hit; probably going to the NL wasn’t great for his career, what with the injuries and lack of any defensive ability.
His Petco splits have been horrible for his career, his decision to sign with the Padres is probably something he regrets tremendously given his production really didn’t trail off until last year.
He was traded to the Padres; he re-signed with them but the initial transaction was a trade for two minor leaguers who never made the majors (I think). To be fair, almost every hitter’s Petco splits are bad. It’s a tough place to hit. His overall numbers with San Diego, when he was on the field, were very good. But he couldn’t stay healthy and couldn’t play defense at all.
He pretty much forced that trade, IIRC.
I can’t find anything online about that, but perhaps he did. He was arb-eligible and the White Sox seemed to not want to pay him. They traded him for nothing.
Again, just going from memory – I believe he made statements to the effect that he wouldn’t sign with anybody except back home in San Diego the following year when he reached free agency. It nerfed his market and the Sox got the only thing they could for him.
Yeah, bad move for all involved, seems like. The return for him to the White Sox was Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez. Castro pitched 4 games in the majors and Hernandez had one of the worst seasons imaginable for Minnesota in 2013.
He did hit when he was on the field. But it was pretty obvious beginning around the road trip through the AL East in mid-May 2013 that he was quickly losing the ability to stay on the field. I give him all the credit in the world for willing himself back into the lineup after the week he missed in June that year and for continuing to hit the ball through July, but watching him play by that time, it was pretty hard to imagine he’d ever be able to stay on the field consistently again.
That’s what I meant by my quip, though certainly if it was a player who was more likeable (which is to say, any player I’ve met in the last 20 years around the game not named Werth or Pierzynski), I might have passed on the cheap shot.
Jeff, can you shed some light on this for me/us: what route can he pursue where he retires, yet still gets paid? Are all MLB contracts like that? I can’t imagine so; what would stop, say, Stanton from just retiring now and living on easy street forever and ever?
The Braves released him so they’re on the hook for his salary. Seattle will not have to pay whatever they signed him for.
That much I understand, but if he retires, why are the Braves still required to pay him? (unless I’m seriously mis-understanding the article)
Because they released him. He didn’t quit them, they quit him.
Got it. Thank you for the clarification.
Perhaps “In the process of retiring” means that he won’t play this year and will file his retirement papers after the season.
That’s likely the case. If he files papers before the end of the championship season, he forgoes his salary from the Braves.
I must say, I’m glad for the discussion on this, since it shows I’m not the only one in the dark about this! (laughing) I really appreciate the information I get from writers and fans alike on this board.
The Braves took on Quentin’s contract in the trade w/ the Padres, making them liable for his pay no matter what they did with him. Since they released him before he chose to retire, there’s no way that would void the pay.
That is incorrect. If he files official retirement papers, the Braves will no longer be obligated to pay his salary.
I’m not 100% sure on this since the contract obligations are already owed. But it’s possible. Either way, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to navigate this properly to keep the money.
The way I’ve always understood it is that if you officially file for retirement, you forfeit your salary no matter who’s paying it.
In most cases that would hold true. But the problem is usually when a player is released, the team that does so is obligated to forfeit the obligated money, and I think the only pay that he would be forfeiting himself is the salary under his current contract w/ SEA. I’m not an expert here, but that’s what seems to be the case.
Yeah, this is definitely a unique case here.
I’d guess the Braves would be off the hook for a prorated portion of the major league minimum once he retires, but that’s completely supposition on my part.
Err, never mind, I was talking about the Mariners, not the Braves, but this was agreed upon already.
He can “delay” retirement while collecting a pay check
they were paying him mlb minium to play in tacoma
Key here is that the Braves released him. If they had wanted to keep him and he wanted to retire, he’d have had to negotiate an out and probably give up some money.
I am not sure whether Quentin needs to talk with Atlanta before officially retiring, which would obviously play into his relationship with the M’s as well. Ultimately, teams are generally very willing to work with their minor league FAs, because treating guys right leads to the ability to get future minor league FAs. (Hence, players are often released to pursue better opportunities elsewhere, etc.)
In this case, I’d expect all involved to just figure it out so he can walk and keep his money in an efficient manner. It’s not like he owed anything to the Braves, who dealt for him as a procedural mechanism and cut him loose right away.
I thank you for that! Good information to have.
The “semantic” update from Heyman is entirely about this point. The Mariners granting him his release removes them from the puzzle entirely. He will now presumably go home, wait until his contract with the Braves expires 72 hours after the World Series, and then file his papers.
he still get paid by Atlanta/SD who ever on hook for rest of his contract as look at former player who is still being payed by a mlb since he been retired for logn time
If he’s on the Bernie Williams timeline, he should be official in about 10 years.
This should put a smile on Zach Greinke’s face.
No kidding. Good riddance to bad business.
I wonder if you’re going to retract that statement next season once Greinke leaves the Dodgers?
No, I will not.
Of course. Do you know that Greinke threw at Quentin’s head TWICE in the same PA? He actually hit him in one of those pitches on the ear flap, this is coming from a guy who’s had superb control for his career and suddenly he loses it when Carlos Quentin comes to the plate and starts missing behind his head.
No excuses. Period, full stop. What’s more, you got the story completely wrong. Grienke hit Quentin on the arm. No pitch went near his head. The only player to take a head shot in that game was Matt Kemp.
See you in Cooperstown, Carlos.
As a paying visitor… :)
Yeah, Carlos Beltran.
Poor guy. Glad he took it upon himself to retire
As a White Sox fan, I thank you for having easily your best season with us. Seems like yesterday you were a legitimate AL MVP candidate, we’ve yet to have an outfielder as productive as you since you left. Best of luck CQ.
Dam, my team could have traded for him. Now its too late.
Eight million is a nice retirement bonus. Wish Quentin well for the rest of his life…..that said, guaranteed contracts are destroying baseball as we know it. There are players on major league rosters who should be playing golf and sipping on margarita’s, instead they are taking up roster spots for no other reason than their fat, bloated multimillion dollar contracts. It’s an absurd thing to behold.
Not that he isn’t pretty well set up for the rest of his life, but it’s probably worth noting that Quentin will has some significant medical expenses down the road.
Baseball is in better financial shape than it has ever been, profits are up dramatically, attendance is at an all time high. How are guaranteed contracts destroying baseball again?
Mr. Glass finally broke.
Grady Sizemore retired? ;-)
“Hard Hittin Carlos Quentin” good luck in your retirement.
If you get hit by pitch the intent is ambiguous.
If you charge a mound the intent is explicit.
End of argument.