Former major league left-hander Danny Hultzen has retired from playing, but he’ll remain in the game as a member of the Cubs’ front office, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports. Hultzen will work as a pitching development assistant under Cubs assistant general manager/vice president of pitching Craig Breslow.
The Mariners selected Hultzen second overall out of the University of Virginia in the 2011 draft, choosing him instead of such current stars as Trevor Bauer, Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and George Springer, but the pick proved to be a mistake in hindsight. While Hultzen did rank among the game’s top prospects in the ensuing couple years after his draft, shoulder injuries and the surgeries that accompanied them dogged him as a professional player. He missed most of 2013 and all of 2014, barely pitched from 2015-16 and then took 2017 off to complete his degree.
Hultzen returned to the pros in ’18 on a minor league contract with the Cubs, finally making his MLB debut in September 2019 with 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Although the Cubs then re-signed him to a non-guaranteed pact, Hultzen didn’t get back to the mound during a 2020 season devoid of minor league baseball. Now, though, the 31-year-old will have a chance to impact the organization in a different role.
Man, Hultzen has really fallen up in the last two years. But good on him, sticking at it even if it didn’t work out. He can provide young players a different perspective on the sport with his career arc.
Cubs front office? Good. Dumpster Divin’ Danny!
It’s gotta be exhausting being you. Cant you be happy for someone?
@ orts—-chitown is happy for himself—there was a cubs story today so he didn’t stay unemployed for the day—he put his troll outfit on and became the best he could be. MLBTR—put a “block” button on your site and I will walk my money to your office to subscribe……..while it remains difficult to navigate past the trolling (especially the exhaustive, repetitive, predictable stuff), i just can’t pull the trigger.
I feel bad for them really. They clearly have emotional issues and I wish them the best. A block button would be nice so I didn’t have to sift through the dozens of negative comments from a select few users.
Ever heard of Billy Beane?
Thanks. You beat me to that comment.
He’s alot like the you of MLB Traderumors. Yesterday’s trash
Could have been more, but if the dude is happy, then none of us have the right to judge him at all. He made it on the mound and we didn’t.
I interned with the cubs in the 2019 season. This is one of the most genuine, hard working, and easiest to root for guys I’ve ever encountered. His (overdue) call up was awesome and emotional to witness. I wish him nothing but the best and know he will succeed.
I’m just curious if you are still currently doing baseball work? That’s what I’m looking to get into, and it’d be nice to hear from somebody who’s gone through/going through it.
Fangraphs.com posts baseball jobs and internships occasionally
I worked for two organizations. Montreal and Colorado.
I forgot about him! I remember seeing that draft with all the big names on the list and then seeing Danny Hultzen… huh. Too bad he didn’t make it, but that doesn’t mean wasn’t talented, nor was he a bust. He just got unlucky and had to many injuries too soon. I hope he can do well with the pitching development of the Cubs because lord knows they haven’t had much of that in a long time.
The pick wasn’t just bad in hindsight, it was bad at the time. People expected the Mariners to take Rendon, and Hultzen was considered an enormous reach. Sometimes bad process begets bad results. A shame for Danny, but good luck to him on his FO career.
I wouldn’t say it was a bad pick, he became one of the top pitching prospects in the world… I think the analysts and scouts that were the ones wrong for saying he was a reach.
Injuries just happened to him, but the Mariners’ scouts got it right.
And if you think about it… Hultzen absolutely dominated every single level where he played in his life… Including his brief time in the majors.
I would be proud of that career.
Wow Cap, it wasn’t bad to pick him over Bauer? I’ll disagree but I’m happy to hear a guy like this gets to stay in the game. Good for him.
Not saying that… Just meant to say that scouting didn’t fail there, there’s just so much you can scout. You can’t predict future injuries.
Hey maybe his future is in Management he a guy that fell under could’ve been . Glad Hoyer gave him another break
Honestly incredible career. Literally a ZERO for his ERA. A FIP under 3. Never gave up a big fly. Walks were a little high but can’t hate on a 13.5 K/9. Good on ya, Danny.
Shame he couldn’t ever get healthy and play a bigger role in MLB. Between him and Kyle Zimmer, I always rooted for those two. Seems like Zimmer was finally able to find a groove. Hope Hultzen does well going forward.
dang, really wanted to see him get another shot. what a great story that he even got the 1st though. for what it’s worth, he retires with a career 0.00 ERA.
It’s worth nothing.
better ERA then you bro.
Was his $6.5 million signing bonus worth nothing as well?
@lolzmets
Worth more than anything you’ll ever amount to
As a Mariners fan, the small corner of resentment I hold towards Hultzen (through no fault of his own) just smiled. The rest of me still wants to cut myself thinking about passing up Rendon.
Don’t fret…. the Mariners could have had the Diamondbacks draft…. Trevor Bauer, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin in the first 43 picks…
Not that those names by any means are bad, but to trade Trevor Bauer and Brian Shaw to the Indians and get back Tony Sipp and Lars Anderson…
Bradley, taken 7th over all…. directly in front of Lindor and Baez….
Chafin 47th over all…. directly in front of Michael Fulmer, Trevor Story and Joe Musgrove…
That handling of that draft is an epic misfire, three first round picks, swapping an eventual Ace for nothing, Bradley turned into a solid reliever and Chafin a lefty specialist.
They also missed out on Blake Snell, Trevor Story and Jackie Bradley Jr.
Story is on the list but I was simply referring to the picks directly behind them,
Chafin was 47, Fulmer was 48, Story was 49 and Musgrove was 49.
Looking back, 2011 was an incredibly deep draft class… I see solid ML contributors scattered all through that draft class
Not to mention Mookie Betts….and BLAKE SWIHART!!!!!
Amazing how people without experience get front office jobs?
It’s not that surprising… these types of jobs are like “entry level” positions for former players. The Cubs got to know Hultzen while he was with the organization and obviously was impressed by his baseball IQ.
A lot of these guys start in roles similar to Hultzen and develop into coaching roles (Mark Prior, Rocco Badelli, David Ross etc) or move into higher level front office jobs (Sam Fuld, Chris Young most notably Billy Beane).
What experience do you want him to have? He knows the people, and the equipment.
Good on him.
He has baseball experience and knowledge, and maybe his college degree is relevant.
He’s a super smart guy. Went to UVA.
Plenty of GMs are former players and at one time, most of them used to be. How is this different?
Best transaction by Jed this year by far.
I applaud the guy for going back to school while he was hurt and getting his degree
Hultzen owes the Mariners! What a pathetic pos he is!