Headlines

  • Rangers Option Josh Jung
  • Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement
  • Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture
  • Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment
  • Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin
  • Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

David Murphy Retires

By charliewilmoth | April 26, 2016 at 7:12pm CDT

Veteran outfielder David Murphy has retired, as SportsDay’s Gerry Fraley and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram both report. (Fraley posted the news earlier today, with Wilson following up later with quotes from Murphy.)

USATSI_9200843_154513410_lowres“Basically, it got to the point where playing this game and living this lifestyle wasn’t worth it any more to be away from my family,” says Murphy. Retirement is “permanent,” he adds.

Last year, Murphy batted a solid .283/.318/.421 in 391 plate appearances, although defensive metrics suggested somewhat of a decline in the quality of his work in the field, and his career .258/.305/.350 line against lefties means he likely needed to be platooned. Earlier this season, Murphy had opted out of minor-league deals with the Red Sox and Twins, and it had previously been reported that he would consider retiring if he wasn’t able to land a big-league job. One such job did open for Murphy with Minnesota, but he reportedly told the Twins he wanted to be with his family instead.

The 34-year-old Murphy was the 17th overall pick in the 2003 draft (and the first draft pick of Theo Epstein’s tenure with the Red Sox). He made it to the big leagues with Boston in 2006, then headed to Texas in 2007 as part of a deal for Eric Gagne. Murphy established himself as a solid corner outfield option with the Rangers, playing parts of seven seasons there before heading to the Indians and then the Angels. His best offensive season was probably 2012 with Texas, when he batted .304/.380/.479 and hit 15 home runs. For his 10-year big-league career, Murphy finishes with a .274/.333/.432 line, with 104 big-league homers. Via Baseball Reference, he made at least $24MM in his career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 46 Retweet 22 Send via email0

Newsstand Transactions David Murphy Retirement

Jake Arrieta, Cubs Remain Far Apart On Extension Framework
Main
Injury Notes: Sandoval, Hedges, Boxberger, Morton, Dodgers
View Comments (13)
Post a Comment

13 Comments

  1. Brixton

    9 years ago

    Its a shame he couldn’t find a team, however its the price he pays for not putting up good WAR numbers since 2012.

    Reply
    • baseballrat

      9 years ago

      He found a team the Twins were preparing to call him up when he decided to retire. They also lost the catcher they tried to sneak through waivers, while making a spot for Murphy

      Reply
    • Larry David's Joe Pepitone Jersey

      9 years ago

      I feel like this is a dig at WAR as a stat, but Murphy would have had a job if he hadn’t decided to retire, as baseballrat noted. 476, 462 and 391 PAs over the past three seasons isn’t exactly not finding a team.

      Reply
      • BashBro

        9 years ago

        Yea…. Some people don’t even watch baseball games anymore. They just pull up what the (WAR, BABIP, etc) then start posting like they know everything. It’s borderline comical

        Reply
    • PhilliesFan012

      9 years ago

      Retirement is the price he pays? Guy was still a solid corner outfielder and still was a consistent hitter, he paid no price he went back to his family

      Reply
  2. Cam

    9 years ago

    Congratulations on the fantastic career – 10 seasons in the Majors is a great achievement.

    Although, I don’t think it was necessarily the demands of playing the game and living the lifestyle – I think it may have been simply not being good enough to get a Major League gig anymore.

    Reply
    • baseballrat

      9 years ago

      The Twins were making preparations to call up outfielder David Murphy before he advised GM Terry Ryan that he wished to return to his family, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Minnesota attempted to pass catcher John Hicks through waivers to clear a roster spot, ultimately losing him to the division-rival Tigers as a result. It certainly appears that the 34-year-old Murphy is headed for retirement, though nothing has been formally announced. Murphy had high praise for the way that Ryan handled things, saying that the veteran executive “showed that he genuinely cared about the situation I was in.”

      Reply
      • Cam

        9 years ago

        I can definitely stand corrected if that’s the case!

        Fantastic career David, well done.

        I always confused you with Daniel though.

        Reply
  3. vwnut13

    9 years ago

    Ah yes, the Eric Gagne trade.

    Reply
  4. dstuart

    9 years ago

    You’re the man, David. Enjoy your down time

    Reply
  5. jonathanp

    9 years ago

    I love the story about how Murphy’s five-year-old daughter spilled the beans about Murphy’s signing in Cleveland in her preschool class.

    mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/indians-notes-murphy-we…

    Congratulations on a successful career and best wishes in retirement.

    Reply
  6. tycobb016

    9 years ago

    Could be wrong but i believe Murphy was Theo Epsteins first ever draft pick. white sox sure can use his stick.

    Reply
  7. Phil253

    9 years ago

    Scrappy player, sort of twitchy and fun to watch even when he would hit an out pitch into the left field gap. Great player to watch and hate if you’re a Mariner’s fan like myself. I think he had a great career and given the chance earlier in the season he would have found a way to be productive. Stats be damned in this case. Happy retirement.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Recent

    D-Backs, Seth Brown Agree To Deal

    D-Backs GM Mike Hazen Discusses Deadline Possibilities

    Orioles Sign Jose Barrero To Minor League Deal

    Zach Pop Elects Free Agency

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Starting Hitters

    MLB Mailbag: Braves, Cubs, Sasaki, Angels, Volpe

    Diamondbacks Designate Kyle Nelson For Assignment

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Washington Nationals

    Astros Select Zack Short

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version