Veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has announced his retirement after 13 Major League seasons. His full statement, as per a Yankees media release:
“I wanted to take this opportunity to announce my retirement as a Major League Baseball player.
For as long as I can remember, my dream was to compete at the highest level as a Major League Baseball Player … to wear a big league uniform and play hard for my teammates and the fans. I will forever be grateful for every day that I’ve had to live out my dream. It has been an absolute honor.
I will always look back with tremendous gratitude for having the privilege of playing as long as I did. There is no way to truly express my gratitude to the fans of Colorado, Toronto and New York. They always made my family and I feel so welcome.
I want to thank the Yankees organization and Brian Cashman for giving me the opportunity to wear the Yankees uniform and live out another childhood dream. I wish that my health had allowed for a different ending to that chapter.
To the coaches, training staff and baseball executives who helped me in my career … I am incredibly grateful to all of you. To my teammates throughout the years, thank you for grinding with me. I truly value all the relationships that were built through this game.
None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my family and friends. To my wife, my son and my parents … you helped make my dreams come true. To my agent Paul Cohen and TWC Sports Management … thank you for taking care of everything. You all allowed me to play the game I love without distractions.
While this chapter is now over, I look forward to continuing my involvement in the game that I love … instructing and helping young players to achieve their goals and dreams.
I’m saying goodbye to Major League Baseball, but I will never say goodbye 2 the game I love. Thanks again 2 all of you!“
Tulowitzki’s final season consisted of only five games, as he was sidelined by a calf strain early in his tenure with the Yankees. It seems like his latest injury might have well been the last straw after a long series of ailments that have limited Tulowitzki for more or less his entire career, but particularly over the last few years. Tulowitzki missed all of 2018 after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from his heels, and after the Blue Jays released him in Spring Training, he caught on with the Yankees on a minor league deal in the hopes of following in the footsteps of his childhood hero Derek Jeter as New York’s shortstop.
One can’t discuss Tulowitzki’s career without mentioning his injury history, as he played more than 130 games just three times over his 13 seasons. It’s quite possible that a healthy Tulowitzki could have potentially garnered himself some consideration as a Hall-of-Famer. On the other hand, a more optimistic view is that given all of his health issues, the fact that Tulowitzki was still able to perform as well as he did is extraordinary.
Selected by the Rockies seventh overall in the 2005 draft, Tulowitzki will long be remembered for his glory days in Colorado. “Tulo” racked up five All-Star appearances, two Silver Slugger Awards, two Gold Gloves and a pair of fifth-place NL MVP finishes over his 10 seasons and 1048 games in Rockies purple. He was also a second-place finisher in NL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2007, as Tulowitzki’s emergence was a major factor in the vaunted “Rocktober” team that virtually ran the table down the stretch and through the postseason en route to a surprise NL pennant and the only World Series appearance in Colorado’s franchise history.
After signing a pair of long-term contract extensions with the Rockies, Tulowitzki seemed like a Rox lifer before a blockbuster trade deadline deal that sent him to the Blue Jays in July 2015. Though Tulowitzki was openly surprised and even dismayed to be leaving his longtime team, Tulowitzki nevertheless helped stabilize Toronto’s shortstop situation as the Jays reached the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016.
Over his entire career, Tulowitzki will finish with a .290/.361/.495 slash line and 225 career home runs. Like most hitters, Tulowitzki enjoyed a boost from playing the bulk of his home games at Coors Field, though his career 118 OPS+ and 119 wRC+ indicate that he was certainly an above-average offensive player full stop.
Tulowitzki earned slightly less than $164MM over the course of his career, as per Baseball Reference. This includes the remainder of his current contract, which runs through the end of the 2020 season and the bulk of which is being covered by the Blue Jays after their release of the shortstop.
We at MLB Trade Rumors wish Tulowitzki our congratulations on an outstanding playing career, and we wish him the best in his future role teaching the next generations of players.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Thanks for coming Tulo! Happy Retirement!
Unfortunately he’s not gonna make the HOF because his numbers are all TULO.
You funny
Such a great talent derailed by injuries… even as a Giants fan, I’ll miss you Tulo!
He really is a big what if for baseball. He had all of the talent in the world but unfortunately could not stay off the trainer’s table. Early on his career appeared to be HoF bound but he only had 3 seasons with 140+ games played.
I remember I got really happy because I bought a pack of baseball cards and I pulled an autographed Tulo rookie card! I was so excited(despite being 19 at the time) because of how much promise he had. It’s such a shame
Thankyou Troy best of luck and respect for you
One of the greatest “Dirtbags” ever! Good luck Tulo!
Unfortunate.
Nothing unfortunate about it – Tulo graduates from Cal State Long Beach and the nickname of their baseball team was the Dirtbags!!!!!
He was talking about his retirement, not your comment.
2 bad he couldn’t have 2 or more good seasons. Regardless of the bad pun, he had a really good career, and probably could have been a HOF if he stayed healthier.
Hall of Fame in a Harold Blaine’s world.
He only had respectable numbers in the thin air of Colorado, had a tough time keeping above the Mendoza line anywhere else. But I’ll always remember him for his huge walk in spring training and him going all in Bautista with pride.
Harold Blaine?
Oops, typed an “L” in there by accident, I guess you’re perfect, it was an obvious mistake, only a loser would think otherwise.
I legitimately did not know who Harold Blaine was. I really should have been more diligent in putting Blaine and Baines together. My apologies Max. The next time I see your ignorant comments I will have more compassion and understanding for your keyboard.
You know the mendoza line is .200 right?
Certainly do, I was being a little facetious, should’ve known the literal police were out there. The point was he stunk outside of Denver.
The literal police are everywhere.
Literally
Throwing out the five games this season in which Tulo hit 189 he never hit lower than .239 and was a career .290 hitter. The other person was concerned about being factual and your statement is factually incorrect. Your wrong, literally. And maybe you should consider not calling people losers.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt…
Best of luck in retirement, if only so many injuries hadn’t marred his late career.
RIP in peace.
is that like ASAP as possible?
Let’s go to the ATM machine
With over $160M in career earnings he can go whenever he wants…
It’s in the department of redundancy department.
To get there make four left hand turns
Yeah, let’s go at 1 PM in the afternoon
I have to install my new hot water heater first. They drove it down the parkway and set it up in my driveway this morning.
“With over $160M in career earnings he can go whenever he wants…”
You messed up. “With over $160M DOLLARS in career earnings, he can go whenever he wants.”
i guess we’ll call this “Breaking News”?
seriously though, would have loved to see what he could have done without all those injuries. Much respect to him for his attitude and work ethic, still had a great careet!
Did anyone not see this coming… like in April?
not him, he was too busy celebrating his homerun against the team that let him go because they believed he was done. guess the Jays were right…
They were right. Enjoy your 20 million plus this season.
He is a perfect example why you should sign a big contract when the opportunity is there. He went from a top 15 player to a guy who never was healthy. There was no in between. Hall of Fame talent for sure.
Nah
.269 hitter away from Coors. Not even close to HOF.
Batting average ….really ? That’s what you use to argue the ability of a baseball player? Just lol
Pick your stat, they’re all average away from Coors.
I csnt have a serious discussion with someone that cites batting average as a meaningful arguing point .
But most players play a lot better in their home park than on the road . But you want to make a big deal over the elevation because you hate tulo. Totally fine . But he was still an elite shortstop.
I know it might hurt your brain but he was among the top short stops always in defensive metrics
Okay, I looked up some splits of a couple hall of famers:
Edgar Martinez 68 career bWAR and a 14 point difference in home and away OPS
Allen Trammel 70 career bWAR and a 36 point difference in home and away OPS
Now Tulo, 44 career bWAR and a 127 point difference between home and away OPS.
Tulo stopped drawing wild pitches and balks away from Coors.
You didn’t want a discussion about batting average, right? I guess you want to manufacture runs with a safe on an error, passed ball, wild pitch and balk.
Fact is Troy’s numbers, like the majority of Colorado players, were huge in Colorado versus everywhere else. Hall of Fame? No. If he is, so is Pedroia.
The melodrama over “I can’t have a serious discussion about batting average” is a total crock. Hitting the baseball successfully more than others is still relevant and always will be.
Who hates Tulo? He was a good ball player that just happened to play in Coors and benefited greatly from it. Put him at Petco and this HOF talk is just none sense. He hit over 30 hr’s once at Coors before the humidor and never finished in the top 3 in MVP voting. He’s in the Hall of pretty good, nothing more, nothing less.
Well said. Completely agree
While true that most players hit for more power at Coors field, the exception is Larry Walker when during his MVP season he hit 29 of his 49 HR’s AWAY from Coors. No way Walker doesn’t deserve HOF.
I love all the people who just discovered Bill James and go on the internet insulting people about batting average like they themselves didn’t think it was important 5 years ago. Get off your high horse dude. But seriously, BA still has meaning,not all important, but important.
You have no knowledge as to when I indulged in sabermetrics
You have indulged in nothing, no offense.
Also I’m not trying to be a jerk but anyone that says ” .269 career hitter = not a hall of famer” in my mind is a simpleton
However I think its adorable that you run to the defense of your boyfriend
That was a poor attempt at an insult. Please try again
My apologies. I’ll resort to using jokes referring to gay relationships like you did. I appreciate the feedback….
Correct!
Also correct!
Larry Walker gets no HOF at 70 career WAR, so even Tulo had a few more 6 WAR seasons it would still be tough for him to get in.
Definitely on track but missed too much time during his peak years and yet they were still pretty incredible. He’s not getting in.
Mines supposed to say, “Larry Walker gets no HOF love” and “so even if Tulo”.
About 5 years overdue
Being a bigger baseball than basketball fan I think I would rather have been able to see how Tulo’s career would have turned out had his body held up for him than D-Rose. I’ll always remember the Tulo chants at Coors Field and just wish he could have stayed healthy to see him and Arenado at the top of their games…
So, is he just leaving a boatload of cash on the table? If so, you don’t see that very often. Guys like Prince Fielder, who stick around and don’t “retire” so they can still get their money are definitely the norm.
Yeah, I’m wondering the same thing. Is he just going to sit on the medically disabled list like Fielder? Pedroia should do the same thing Tulo is doing, if Tulo is truly retiring, but I’m skeptical he’ll man up.
No. He was released from the Jays so he doesn’t owe them any service. They still have to pay him the approx. $23m left owing to him.
Yep, he’s only leaving what the Yankees owe him on the table.
This may be correct (I genuinely have no idea) but why does his being released matter? For example, the team which releases a player gets an offset if the guy earns league minimum elsewhere. So if he straight up retires (and thus eliminates any possibility of earning baseball salary) why do they still have to pay him?
I guess because, like in the real world, they made a deal to pay him for his services and then released him.
But is he leaving that on the table? The Yankees were only paying the min salary as part of his Jays salary. Since the Yanks are no longer paying him, does it still come off the Jays responsibility?
He may be getting “retired” medically by doctors rather then just walking away. So he might be saying that he is retiring when really he is officially still being paid but no longer trying to rehab as rehab isnt very realistic.
The only player I can think of who walked away from money with a retirement was Gil Meche just calling it quits while still owed 12M by KC, although he said he felt it wasnt fair to be paid while not available in the final season of his deal, and while it was a classy move by Gil I would argue that the risk of this outcome was already baked into the price of his deal to begin with and he should have gotten his. He gave them 10WAR for 43M in the first four years of the deal, and in dollars per WAR had already paid them the full 55M in value.
We don’t know and my never know if there was/is some kind of monetary settlement he has with the Jays. Or medically retired as ChapmansDirtBuster mentioned. It wouldn’t shock me if left everything on the table knowing his reputation.
Was a pleasure watching him come up as a kid for the Rockies, and sad to see injuries take their toll on him like they did.
HOF level talent and work ethic, for sure.
Best of luck in retirement.
I’m pretty sure he’s not leaving any money on the table. Maybe a minor league deal.
And I’m pretty sure I replied to the wrong comment.
He still gets paid if he is released and chooses not to sign anywhere as long as he doesnt actually file the paperwork with the MLBPA/MLB since he has 14M next year plus a 4M buyout, so he can just not sign and wait to actually “process” his retirement until the end of next season. Toronto may have worked out a buyout of the remaining roughly 20M including the rest of this season for something like 17M similar to how D Wright got bought out of some portion of his deal while getting to officially retire. There would be no reason for Toronto not to let him get done now in order to save a couple million for the winter after next.
HOF caliber talent that dealt with injuries his entire career. Sucks what could of been but it’s an unfortunate part of sports… Reminds me of Brandon Roy… happy retirement Tulo!
Good comp. I was thinking of Barry Larkin. Their careers were very similar and Larkin was just as injury prone as Tulo. Although Larkin did manage to last longer. And Larkin had the whole career with on team going on as well. I hav a feeling that if Tulo was never traded and hung on as a bench guy for the Rockies, he would have ended up as a HOFer. But that will have to go into the “what might have been” file.
This is about three or four years late. If he would have taken care of himself more, no telling how great he could have been. I understand hustle and grind but wreck less abandon was his style for several years and he cut a possible HOF career way shorter than it should have been. Knees, ankles and feet are the life of an athlete that he totally destroyed. Just joins a long list of players who were not all they could have been. List him with Mantle, Maris, Garciaparra, and the list could be much larger than just adding Tulo. Anyhow, thanks for the memories and continue teaching the kids how to play.
Taken better care of himself, hell… He got hurt a lot. That happens to tons of players. Most of them just aren’t as good as he was when he was healthy.
Happy trails, Dirtbag! Good player that was derailed by the injury bug… have a fun and healthy retirement!
Man, when he was healthy he was top tier! I hate that injuries plagued him so bad
Does this mean the Blue Jays don’t have to pay him anymore?
Blue Jays are on the hook for the balance of his contract since they released him.
Tulowitzki kept his word. Huge respect.
Heck of a career. Blue Jays fans should recognize how key he was in the ALDS in 2015, and for providing stability at SS when they needed it. The team changed for the better when he, Price and company showed up. He battled injuries and he battled on the field.
What word? What respect? He pleaded for his release then completely changed his tune. Now because he was released he gets to retire and still gets all his money.
Not sure what narrative you’re referring to. I’m referring to his alleged quotes. He gave himself one more try and now he’s packing it in and going home. He kept his word.
Nobody said the Blue Jays had to release him.
As for the money, well, he signed an extension offered by the Colorado Rockies. That is a contract. Blue Jays took it on to help reach the postseason and it was worth getting rid of Jose Reyes.
he couldn’t stay healthy with the Jays, sat out almost an entire season and told the Jays he is a shortstop and only a shortstop and would not change positions. He forced his way out and when picked up by the Yankees he changed his tune and said he would play where ever they needed hi to play. then celebrated like he hit a WS winning home run against the Jays in spring training Nd talked about how great it was to do it against a team that didn’t believe in him being able to play any more. that lasted a few games til he ended up proving the Jays were right.
Agreed.
You’re giving the Blue Jays front office a pass? Let’s review….
– They leaked the Jose Bautista extension talks to make him look greedy
– The Josh Donaldson situation turned messy at the end
– Aaron Sanchez in 2016 was poorly handled
– They showed no effort in extending either Donaldson or Encarnacion
– Marcus Stroman drama, it hasn’t ended and the blame is not 100% on Marcus.
Tulowitzki felt he needed to make a comeback after missing all of 2018. The Blue Jays felt he was done. Tulo disagreed. Do not come here and tell us Tulowitzki “forced his way out”. Blue Jays have had plenty of practice getting rid of their own guys.
You are a mind reader? Impressive source of knowledge!
Derek Rose of he mlb but still a good career.
reminds me of Nomar. both injury plagued and some sensational seasons in their 20’s but after the age of 30…..very average.
Does he go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee?
The 15-Day HOF List.
When you retire you forfeit your salary/contract? I bloody hope so.
Because the money staying with the billionaire owner instead of the player somehow makes your life better?
No, they burn it in the face of a starving family of 4
Something tells me if the possibility of him not getting paid the rest of his contract that he woulda packed up this year and gave it the old college try again next year to make sure he gets every dollar.
He was doing great until he used the number 2 instead of the word two twice at the end.
He wore #2 for the majority of his career…
If he’s going to officially retiring, does this mean that the Blue Jays are off the hook for the remainder of his contract? Can a player still be paid after officially retiring?
Because the Jays released him, the rest of that contract was essentially a lump-sum buy-out.
He only retired from the Yankees deal
I could be wrong …maybe someone who actually knows could comment?
I think you’re right that the Jay’s are still on the hook, but I do not think he got a lump sum when he was released. He will just get his normal (huge) paychecks in the mail.
Commented above. It is a contract.
The Blue Jays could have solved the problem by keeping Tulowitzki, dealing Justin Smoak when he had some value and have Tulo DH. If his body broke down, IL him and allow the kids to play.
Instead, Tulo’s being paid and Smoak will return nothing.
First ballot When He Was Healthy Hall of Famer.
Good! I’m tired of hearing about his delicate condition. He needs to live in a plastic bubble.
I think anytime a player retires we have to ask, was he the greatest right handed shortstop of all time?
Grant Hill of MLB?
Great career, shame about the injuries. Coors beneficiary or not, he was a great player. As a Jays fan his run here was frustrating, but I’ll always remember him for helping us get back into the playoffs in that magical 2015 season (that one homer he hit against Texas in the ALDS specifically) and then again in 2016. Not a Hall of Famer, but certainly will go into the Hall of Very Good.
Why do people think “Very Good” and “Fame” are on the same scale? Very Good would make sense if the HOF was called of Excellence, but it’s not. So wouldn’t the actual equivalent for the Hall of FAME be the Hall of Notable.
He’ll have a FO spot if he wants one. “The most prepared player I ever had, besides Manny Ramirez”, according to Dan O’Dowd…and Tulo prepared with the glove, too. In these days when players scarcely know (or care) whose pitching, Tulo’s unique.
Of course he made a ton of money, and likely has no interest in any field-type thing. But Long Beach graduates smart guys, and I can see Tulo in a FO somewhere.
Thanks Dirtbag 😉
Okay, the retirement/released issue was collectively bargained… any contract signed (in this context) is for a specific service, over a set period of time, for a certain agreed upon monetary amount. Under these ‘rules’ retiring ‘breaks’ the contract, as does releasing, its clear under which scenario breaches (release – team, retire – player)… once a team releases a player, they’ve breached, and MLB and the Players have agreed upon what happens next. They pay the entirety of the contract, minus any new team offer. The entirety. The player is welcome to retire the next day if he wishes. Think of it like this, you’re a player and you retire… if the team releases you the next day, they don’t suddenly owe you your money. You breached first, contract void. And again, all subject to bargained parameters.
Much respect for his career, his dedication and even his work in Toronto. His bat was mediocre away from Coors but he stabilized the infield and had a bunch of big hits for the Jays. That said, he went out badly, without any seeming self-awareness. His refusal to move off SS and his taunting after one spring-training HR were not particularly classy.
He will be inducted into the TooLow hall of fame tomorrow!
Keep that tape of yourself mocking the Blue Jay bench after hitting a home run in the first week of spring training,,,,,a true indicator of your character. LOSER!
Wow when Cashman signed him it was a “ Genius” move according to Yankee Fans. Now he is gone. Hmmmm who would of ever thought he would go out injured? Not the “ GENIUS”.
Ha.. the Yankees have been obliterated with injuries this season and still have the best record in baseball.. but you are going to judge Cashman on the no-risk depth signing of Tulo?
Best of luck Troy, I enjoyed your time with Toronto and I had hoped you would do well with the Yankee’s. But always the true pro you have been you knew when it was time to step aside.
I’m sure we will see you back in the majors as a coach.
Guys like this really make you appreciate how good for how long HOFers are. In his prime this guy was one of the absolute best players in the league for a 6 year span. (Although even during that time he had some problems staying healthy)
You imagine him riding out the rest of his career in pretty good shape and making the Hall. But then some injuries strike and some decline happens and he winds up not even close.
Chase Utley is another guy like this, where at age 30 it felt like “Of course this guy is bound for the HOF). And he even had a long career afterward. But by the end, you look at his overall numbers and it just doesn’t feel like he got there.
Dude played MLB baseball, traveled all over and made over a hundred million dollars. Life is good for Tulo….
What everyone said above. By Tulo. Can’t say I didn’t see this coming a while ago.
Amazing how some players fall apart as the go past age 30 and some seem to be very good[big papi].
Tulo is a good lesson for baseball in giving shorter term contracts past 30 yrs old. I cringe at the Bryce Harper and Manny Machado contracts….the odds that these contracts hamstrings the club for years longterm are not espeically good in the club’s favor and that means they cannot, in the longterm compete. There is much greater risk of not being successful as an organization.
I liked Paul Beeston’s idea of nothing longer than 5 years.
He’ll be back in 2021.
Love the touch at the end with the “2”. Best of luck to Tulo! Can see him attempting a comeback in a couple of years
Okay, so I see that he wants to stay with the Yankees after seeing “2” instead of “to”.. That’s a big plus for the organization.
This is the reason why teams are starting to be greedy with contracts – this guy is walking away with $164million for an injury plagued career. Doing the math, this year he got paid $4m per game. Over the course of this career, $34,000 per at bat or $118,000 per hit. Next year he will get paid $18m to play golf – take that Tiger! To many baseball teams are sponsoring amateur golf players! MLBPA will most likely argue players are treated unfairly. Let’s go to a pay for performance pay model.
Teams are getting greedy?.. or are they trying to spend wisely? Lots of bad contracts out there
Correction: you are right. Not greedy but wise. Greedy is a MLBPA terminology
Breaking : the most injured man in all of baseball retires
I didn’t read everything above my post. I’m certain there’s some good stuff posted.
Just wanted to say Tulowitzki arrived at that point all baseball guys fear: The end of the road.
Good luck in the game going forward.
“Billy Martin, Billy Martin.”
He was a good player not great. His numbers away from Coors Field were meh. Too many people with the letters H O and F in their comments even if it’s just what ifs. I can’t help but think it’s all watered down at this point. I guess when guys like Harold Baines and Edgar Martinez get in the Hall with numbers not worthy of Hall status then all the everyone gets a trophy folks are going make silly comments. The truth is that Troy stole millions from the game and while he might be a great guy personally he contributed zero to the sport for the bulk of his career except eating up money that could have been spent someplace else. I say whatever.
I like Tulo and all but man did he burn the bridge out of Toronto. He forced his way out and left a bad taste in our mouths. Weird tenure.
It seems many ex-players have burned bridges. I wonder if we will see the tides turn and it’s really the front office that’s the issue. Just too many examples of battles between players and the executives.
Please enlighten me. His contract has 2 or 3 more years to go. Does this mean the team’s insurance company will pay him the rest and no penny from the teams owed?
If so, he didn’t really “have to” retire now in the middle of his contract, correct?
Tulo was really good for a few years at Offense-Numbers-Comically-Inflated Coors Field
He is the perfect example why long term contracts are a bad idea