Headlines

  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • 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
  • 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

Caleb Cotham Retires

By Jeff Todd | March 9, 2017 at 8:01pm CDT

Reliever Caleb Cotham has decided to hang up his spikes, he announced on Twitter. Cotham, 29, had recently agreed to a minor-league deal with the Mariners.

Cotham isn’t being forced out of the game due to a catastrophic injury, though he has had his share of injury woes both recently and in the past. Instead, it seems, he’s not interested in continuing to endure the toll of the grind.

“For me it is time to explore how I can give back and offer value to the game of baseball in ways other than playing,” Cotham writes. “My love for the game has never been higher, I am just no longer willing to pay the emotional/physical price to rehab/play at the highest level.”

There’s no doubting the pressures and demands placed upon a player in Cotham’s situation. Over the past two years, he has bounced between the upper minors and the majors. While he was able to earn 35 MLB appearances, Cotham allowed 27 earned runs in that span and faced an uphill path to the Mariners’ active roster this year.

Cotham first cracked the bigs with the Yankees after a breakthrough 2015 season in which he threw 57 innings of 2.21 ERA ball with 9.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in the upper minors. He ended up being dealt to the Reds as part of the return for Aroldis Chapman.

While he made the Opening Day roster with Cincinnati, Cotham contributed to the team’s historically dreadful relief work. He was ultimately sidelined with shoulder inflammation and then suffered a season-ending knee injury upon his return to the minors. (That string of ailments surely brought back unwanted memories; originally a fifth-round pick out of Vanderbilt, Cotham threw only 31 innings from 2009 through 2011 owing to knee and shoulder surgery.) The Reds outrighted him off of their 40-man roster in late October.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Caleb Cotham Retirement

‘Lucky Charm’ Jared Porter On Metrics, D-Backs’ 2017 Roster
Main
Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers
View Comments (30)
Post a Comment

30 Comments

  1. Not Xabial

    8 years ago

    Best of luck in life after baseball Mr. Cotham!

    1
    Reply
  2. giantsfan8

    8 years ago

    See ya man. Happy retirement.

    Reply
  3. amyj21

    8 years ago

    Who the heck is Caleb Cotham? And who cares?

    1
    Reply
    • go_jays_go

      8 years ago

      A guy that plays baseball.

      Caleb Cotham cares.

      1
      Reply
    • matthew45

      8 years ago

      he’s infinitely better at baseball than you are.

      1
      Reply
      • amyj21

        8 years ago

        Yeah but prolly not better than me at softball

        Reply
        • pinkerton

          8 years ago

          Oh who cares. what’s with the constant one-upping?

          1
          Reply
        • lesterdnightfly

          8 years ago

          Who the hell is amyj21? And who cares about someone with an attitude who can’t read?

          1
          Reply
        • amyj21

          8 years ago

          Point is who know who this guy was before this post Lester? My other point was…who gives a crap if some nobody retires?

          Reply
        • oldoak33

          8 years ago

          You’ve again demonstrated your unfounded elitism.

          “Point is who know this guy was before this post”

          For one, MLB organizations that scouted and the one that drafted him knew.

          Teammates that played with him in the minors and majors knew.

          Folks that work for MLBTR that posted the article you clicked and commented on knew.

          In the grand scheme of things the people that matter knew, and you, the actual nobody, didn’t.

          Reply
        • amyj21

          8 years ago

          Gosh your real smart mister and I’m a little intimidated by your words. Your right, I am a nobody in the grand scheme of things. However, nobody is posting an article on me because I’m not news worthy. Just like Caleb Cotham isn’t news worthy.

          Reply
        • oldoak33

          8 years ago

          Says the person that frequents MLBTR and comments on non news worthy postings.

          Be more specific about which words in the English language are causing you anguish. I’ll stop using them.

          Reply
    • 24TheKid

      8 years ago

      If you read the article it would have told you who Caleb Cotham is. And I care. But I still don’t like it when people reply with, “he’s still way better than you ever will be.” Because I don’t understand how that has to do with anything.

      Reply
      • oldoak33

        8 years ago

        24,

        People reply that way because this site is full of Done Nothings that get on here and talk about players from a position of authority.

        The entire paradigm of this site is based on how good someone is at baseball. Anonymously commenting about baseball players and their baseball acumen also provides commenters here immunity from criticism of their own abilities in baseball? How and why? I would honestly like to know.

        At what point did anonymous opinion rise to a level of importance if the source of that opinion isn’t important to the discussion?

        Person A “You’re really bad at that”

        Person B “Oh yeah? Do it better”

        That’s a conversation ender, because if you aren’t better your criticisms are about as important as your ability to get the task done.

        Reply
        • jonnyblah

          8 years ago

          Welcome to internet comment sections, where the best and brightest come to shine, working to make positivity and common ground the true theme of every thread.

          Reply
      • Ry.the.Stunner

        8 years ago

        It does have to do with something because asking who someone is in a condescending manner is a passive-aggressive way of saying “this guy sucks and is insignificant in the world of baseball”, so reminding the commenter that he or she is even more insignificant in the world of baseball is a fair rebuttal.

        Reply
    • oldoak33

      8 years ago

      Serious question: who are you, and why does your opinion matter more than Caleb’s retirement?

      1
      Reply
    • pt57

      8 years ago

      Apparently you. You read the article and commented.

      Reply
  4. go_jays_go

    8 years ago

    according to baseball reference, Caleb has amassed a total of 1 year and 42 days in the big leagues.

    Assuming he was paid at league minimum, which is 500,000 per season (or 183 days), Caleb would’ve made $614,754 in 2015/2016.

    On top of that, Caleb was a 5th round pick back in the 2009 draft and received $675,000, which was considerably over the recommendation (back in 2009, teams were not subject to any real penalties for overspending on the draft)

    For an AAAA player, he’s made over $1.28 million (over a span of 8 years); that’s not bad at all.

    1
    Reply
    • petersdylan36

      8 years ago

      That’s $160,000 a year… I’ll take it

      1
      Reply
    • davidcoonce74

      8 years ago

      I think it’s interesting that when people talk about the salaries of pro athletes they somehow assume they don’t pay taxes on their income, bonuses, etc, and also pay their agents a few percentage points off the top. Cotham made a nice income for 8 years but it’s not like he’s set for life.

      Reply
  5. jdgoat

    8 years ago

    I thought he was a sneaky good throw in to the chapman deal by Cincinnati. I guess that didn’t turn out to good but best of luck to him anyways

    1
    Reply
    • schellis 2

      8 years ago

      There was no good in that deal. Was all organizational filler. Was awful the moment the trade was made and even worse a few months later when the Yankees got an actual prospect for him

      1
      Reply
      • jdgoat

        8 years ago

        I know it was an awful deal for the Reds but jagielo was a decent prospect until having a bad year last year and rookie Davis is still promising. But again it was awful and you’re correct that is magnified after the Yankees acquired Torres.

        Reply
  6. xfloydsterx

    8 years ago

    his name was Caleb Cotham

    Reply
    • dwhitt3

      8 years ago

      Was? His name still is Caleb Cotham

      1
      Reply
      • ottomatic

        8 years ago

        It’s from a movie

        Reply
  7. RealHalSteinbrenner

    8 years ago

    Good luck CC

    Reply
  8. bosox90

    8 years ago

    Because playing baseball is what Cotham deserves, but not what he needs right now.

    Reply
  9. freaky55

    8 years ago

    In a way I feel like a guy with enough talent to get drafted by the NYY and be included in the Chapman trade should not give up so soon.
    But I digress. I don’t know this guys life story or what he’s been through. Early retirement doesn’t mean he’s giving up. The physical and mental toll are enormous. But you have to keep pushing to be good or even great. I wish I heard he was retiring to be closer to his family or something. He’s just tired of trying so hard. I can’t knock him, but I will say there are people with no talent and a ton of heart who would kill to be in his position and wouldn’t stop trying until the wheels fall off.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    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

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”

    Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg In “Advanced” Talks To Sell Team

    Recent

    Phillies Reinstate Bryce Harper, Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

    Athletics Select Colby Thomas

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    Poll: Should The Pirates Trade Mitch Keller?

    The Opener: Brown, Waldron, Schmitt

    White Sox Place Luis Robert Jr. On 10-Day Injured List

    AL Central Notes: Arias, Carpenter, Cannon

    Twins Designate Jonah Bride For Assignment

    Giants Sign Austin Barnes To Minor League Deal

    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