12:49PM: Iannetta explained his decision to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, saying that he told the Yankees in the offseason that he was going to retire if he wasn’t on the Major League roster. That stance didn’t change after Higashioka was injured.
“If I didn’t make the team out of spring, I was going to call it a career….That’s kind of what transpired when they took me off the roster and wanted me to go to Scranton,” Iannetta said. “I was like, no. I wasn’t about to hang on or sit around and wait for someone to get hurt or get called up again. I’ve never wished anyone to get hurt in my entire career, and I wasn’t about to start now.”
12:40PM: The Yankees placed catcher Chris Iannetta on their restricted list yesterday, a somewhat curious transaction that could now be a bit more clear. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link) that Iannetta “is believed to be retiring” after 14 seasons in the majors.
Originally a fourth-round pick for the Rockies in the 2004 draft, Iannetta spent eight seasons in total with Colorado, first from 2006-11 and then a return for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In between those stints at Coors Field, Iannetta also spent four seasons with the Angels (after being dealt in a notable trade that sent Tyler Chatwood to Colorado), and one season apiece with the Mariners and Diamondbacks.
He inked a minor league deal with the Yankees last February and had his contract selected prior to their July opener, though Iannetta never officially appeared in the pinstripes before he was designated for assignment last week. Iannetta was then outrighted off New York’s 40-man roster but didn’t report to the club’s alternate training site, which George A. King III of the New York Post reports (via Twitter) was the reason for Iannetta’s placement on the restricted list.
A possible wrinkle to the story could be today’s news that Kyle Higashioka has been placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. Erik Kratz was called up to take Higashioka’s spot as Gary Sanchez’s backup, and with the Yankees now short on catching depth, one wonders if Iannetta might be persuaded to return if he has a clearer path to a Major League job.
If this is indeed it for the 37-year-old Iannetta, he’ll head into retirement with 1197 MLB games and 4253 plate appearances to his name, with 141 homers and a career .230/.345/.406 slash line. Iannetta’s 100 wRC+ makes him an exactly average run-creator over his 14 seasons, and his three best offensive seasons were somewhat unusually spaced out — a 129 wRC+ in 2008 over 407 plate appearances with the Rockies, a 125 wRC+ in 373 PA with the Angels in 2014, and then a 120 wRC+ over 316 PA with the D’Backs in 2017. Iannetta’s offensive production was largely fueled by an ability to reach base, highlighted by a .390 OBP during that big 2008 campaign.
Iannetta is the Rockies’ all-time leader in games caught, and as noted by Heyman, he is also a notable figure in the history of Rhode Island baseball. Of all big league players born in the Ocean State, Iannetta ranks seventh in games played, behind three Hall-of-Famers (Nap Lajoie, Gabby Hartnett, Hugh Duffy) and three other notables in Paul Konerko, Davey Lopes, and Bill Almon. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Iannetta on a fine career, and we wish him the best in his post-playing days.
Anyway Eric Kratz can go with him into retirement? We’ll keep Josh Tole down in the minors just in case we sign a knuckleballer
We could do a lot worse than Kratz. He’s a solid backup.
Erik Kratz: 5 G, 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1 BB, 0 HR.
You can have kinbrel. Send out a dozen murders row signed items to 10 random fans out of a maximum of 2500 fans that sign up for the competition.
Wait that’s too much. So make it a John Wettland autograph and 50% off a Yankee Stadium tour when its available.
All expenses not paid for. That would overvalued kimbrel
Kratz is a Yankees legend
Can he pitch? Couldn’t do any worse than the arms in the Pirates pen. 16 runs in one game.
hey good for him! his career was the definition of average
@1bertu
And what does your career stat line look like?
Why is being average bad?
Relax guys, it’s a joke because he finished exactly 100 wRC+, so exactly league average.
Congratulations to Chris Iannetta on a fine career, good luck with future endeavors.
He owns a winery somewhere on the West Coast. Apparently he’s quite good at it, too. Look out for “Major League Cabernet” at a liquor store near you soon.
Thanks for this seamaholic, much appreciated – love info like this – nice one.
Average offense for a catcher aint too shabby
He always ranked highly in the vowel to consonant ratio.
He was a good serviceable catcher during his tenure with the Angels.. ‘ll tell you what He wasn’t going to make anyone forget Andy Etchebarren anytime soon
I wonder what most of us would give or have given for fourteen “average’ years in the majors?
Teams gave him almost $39M in his MLB career. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Too bad, probably the best catcher they have
Honestly wish he was in the lineup instead of Gary Sanchez
CrookedAsstros- In line for the most ridiculous comment of the day.
Was such a massive upgrade over Mathis. There was much rejoicing in the Angels fanbase when he was acquired and his OBP out of the 9 spot kept the lineup flipping over for Trout his rookie (and should have been first MVP) season.
Best of luck in the future.
Chris Iannetta is arguably the greatest catcher in Rockies history. Now that says more about the strength of the catching position for the team than it does of Iannetta’s skill. However, he is almost without a doubt #1 in team history as he retires and you can’t really get any higher.
If for some reason Mr. Iannetta ever reads this, congratulations on a fine career. You have entertained me greatly for years, even if I did cuss at your image on my TV more than I probably should have.
why Mathis continues to find work astounds me.
Rockies screwed up letting Tom Murphy go
First thing I thought when I read the title as well-
Always seemed Col wanted to see what was behind door #2 when they had the answer sitting right there-
Wilin Rosario was suppose to be the savior. Col has done Oh so many things wrong this past decade and yet they look ready to go the postseason for the 3rd time in the last 4 years with Nolan struggling too boot- Would be quite the irony if they ended up on a 94 win pace at the end this 60.
Congrats on a long career. Enjoy it
Good thing Cashman did not trade Sánchez and Adujar for Realmuto!
emt126- And why is that? Syndergaard wasn’t going to cut his hair if he would of been traded to the Yankees. Realmuto would of gone to the Mets. Sánchez and Andujar would be playing everyday for the Marlins. The trade almost happened last season. I wanted Realmuto In the trade over Syndergaard truthfully
Chris,
Call the Giants….
I respect his statements about not being in a position to wish injury on anyone. I’ll also say his career was very successful. If he can play average out of the top .001% of the population for fourteen years, that’s impressive. As an aside, I’d love to get paid $40M dollars to be average at a job I love!