David Ross 99% Certain He Will Retire

Cubs catcher David Ross is still 99.9% certain he will retire at the end of the season, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers tweets. Ross indicated last November that he would likely retire after the 2016 season, although that was before a strong campaign in which he batted .229/.338/.446 in 205 plate appearances while playing his usual strong defense.

The 39-year-old Ross explained his thought process in some detail last week, as Rogers described at the time. “I just don’t want to be that weak link,” said Ross. “I don’t want to be the guy that holds everyone up. I want no regrets on my end.”

Ross did go on to say that he might consider continuing to play if the Cubs “blew [his] socks off,” although he seemed to be at least half-joking. He listed not being able to play with outfielder and fellow catcher Kyle Schwarber, who missed almost the entire season due to a knee injury, as one of his regrets about leaving the game behind.

For now, Ross appears to be concentrating on winning a World Series with the Cubs. “People ask, ’Where does my retirement stuff rank?’ Winning a World Series is way better than that. It’s an amazing thing to dog pile out there while no one else can do that,” he said last week.

Ross has played parts of 15 seasons in the Majors, suiting up with the Dodgers, Pirates, Padres, Reds, Braves and Red Sox before signing a two-year, $5MM deal with the Cubs prior to the 2015 season. He’s collected just 2,644 plate appearances in his career, since he’s generally played as a backup, and batted .229/.316/.423. He won a World Series as a member of the Red Sox in 2013.