Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. took to Twitter today to announce his retirement from baseball after almost a decade in the big leagues.
“It’s been an incredible journey that I dreamed as a kid I would be able to go on,” wrote Souza, before going on to give a heartfelt thanks to the many people whose lives touched his along the way.
Souza, 33, was a third-round pick of the Nationals out of Cascade High School in 2007 and made his big league debut with the Nats in 2014. After getting into 21 games for Washington down the stretch, Souza went to the Rays in December 2014 as part of a convoluted three-team trade that saw Wil Myers go from Tampa to San Diego and Trea Turner go from the Padres to the Nats.
Souza would spent the next three seasons with the Rays, which will no doubt go down as the best stretch of his career. From 2015 to 2017, he played 378 games, hitting 63 home runs, 53 doubles, four triples, stealing 35 bases and hitting .238/.327/.426.
Incredibly, Souza was part of yet another three-team trade prior to the 2018 season. In this deal, Souza went to the Diamondbacks while Brandon Drury went to the Yankees, among other pieces changing hands. Unfortunately, Souza’s trip to the desert would be a disappointing one, with injuries preventing him from sustaining the production he showed in Tampa. He was limited to 72 games in 2018 due to pectoral issues and hit just .220/.309/.369 when on the field. In March of 2019, Souza sustained a far worse injury, slipping on home plate during a Spring Training game. The club would later announce that Souza tore or damaged multiple ligaments in his knee, which would require season-ending surgery.
After missing the entirety of the 2019 campaign, Arizona non-tendered him, allowing Souza to reach free agency for the first time in his career. He’d go on to see MLB action over the next three seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers and Mariners, respectively, but unable to recapture his previous form. Over those three seasons, he hit .152/.221/.291.
In the end, Souza was able to appear in 505 MLB games and make 1,895 plate appearances. He’ll head into retirement with a lifetime batting line of .229/.318/.411, 72 home runs, 71 doubles, eight triples, 383 total hits, 223 runs scored, 207 runs driven in and 42 stolen bases. He was able to earn more than $10MM over his big league tenure. MLBTR congratulates Souza on a fine career and wishes him the best of luck in his next chapter.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
That was a gruesome injury. Good luck to him!
What? He wasn’t listed on the All Scar team? He could’ve replaced Altuve with his ingrown toenail, right? Sorry folks, I’ll be watching F-Troop re-runs while the All Scar game is on. Way to go Manfart, you’ve lowered the bar yet again…
Wonder how many people will have to google F-Troop here?
If you can’t connect with F-Troop, try Mama’s Family…
Or maybe Ken Barry?
Or Larry Storch?
Or maybe I’ll just slip into a coma? Thanks Manfart
Mama’s Family WAS terrible…F-troop was awesome….
Got my old sitcom education watching channel 17 and 29( eventually FOX) in the Philly mid 70’s…Gilligan’s Island, Hogan’s Heroes I dream of Jeannie etc The Monkees being my favourite!
Am also well informed about Rat Patrol, Tour of Duty Black Sheep Squadron etc and thanks to the Heroes Channel, have added their Good Guys at Sunrise line-up to my repertoire….
Maverick, Wanted Dead or Alive Have Gun Will Travel and the massively (pun intended) underrated Cheyenne…
….sigh, I feel the pain
I know all of them
What an odd post to vent your anger on.
No anger mon frere, @ruthplayedthetuba, just nostalgia
Waxing poetic since Larry Storch finally died the other day? Im still surprised he lived so long…
Died at 99! Instill a little humor in your life, & you may live to 99!
@Curly….did not read anger…agree with you….funny how 1k channels and I was able to enjoy the Good Guys at Sunrise…
As an aside my pop went to Central High in Philly – the same as Larry Fine!
Larry Fine? Now we are talking talent!
Calling DR. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr Howard
For Humanity!
I didn’t realize Larry Storch died. Sorry to hear, although 99 is a good run. Just discovered that June Lockhart of Lassie and Lost in Space fame is still with us at 97.
I remember Souza saving Jordan Zimmerman’s no-hitter back in 2014. I thought he was going to become one of MLB’s top underrated outfielders after his quality 2017 season, but injuries had other plans. Hope he enjoys retirement.
Must have been a quality person, to be given so many opportunities. Good Luck and God Bless him!
Unfortunate that he had to retire early, he was looking like a decent everyday player and then that nasty knee injury basically ended him. Either way he had a good run, best of luck to him for the future.
Saw a lot of value in him when he was with the Rays being an Orioles fan. Unfortunate for him but wish him the best.
If he only could have stayed healthy! He was pretty good with the Rays. Good for him, though! Quite the achievement to do what he did in the major leagues. Not many can say they’ve done what he’s done!
I completely forgot about the Padres giving Trea Turner away. Man, that trade made no sense at the time and even less sense now. Was that Preller? I know all teams have their fair share of mistakes, but the Padres have some especially egregious ones…
First 6 months on the job for preller and he didn’t draft Trea I think.
john phillip better
He marched to his own tune… right?
And he wasn’t German?
Ditto, nice one!
This is the comment I’ve waited a lifetime for
Good one!
Always seemed in good spirits while on the Dodgers. Appeared to be a good dude. Enjoy retirement!
He was paid $2 million per WAR, career. Quite the bargain.
Lol WAR.
Fitting username, clown show
Thanks for the catch.
– Jordan Zimmermann
10 million in career earnings and probably has never had a job….At 33, retires…..
As always, I hope he has have semi-reasonable money/business opportunities ahead.
And I am mega-jealous! Happy trails Mr. Souza!
He had a job. He was a professional baseball player.
Knew this comment would come…..
Most MLB players (either for lip service or not) claim their affinity for playing the game……It is something they have done since they were 6….to have it all pan out AND make 10 million…D R E A M C O M E T R U E
My point was they did what they loved and made millions…..Pretty sure you aren’t in the same group…for sure I am not
Glad you upvoted yourself…
lol, what? You wrote that he never had a job. He did, professional ball player. Not sure why that warrants attacking me for supposedly hating my job and life and saying I upvoted myself (I didn’t). Crazy.
Rays would’ve been better off keeping Joe Ross and Trea Turner than including Washington and taking Souza + Travis Ott.
Preller probably kicks himself every time he looks at Myers’ or Trea’s stat line.
Rizzo did pretty well on that trade though
It wouldn’t have made sense at the time for the Rays to acquire Turner or for the Nats to acquire anyone other than the PTBNL (who ended up being Turner), plus it was well-known that the Padres really wanted Wil Myers.
That trade doesn’t go down without all 3 teams involved.
I shouldn’t say other than the PTBNL since Ross was involved and they needed a 5th pitcher at the time.
Agreed that Rizzo did extremely well. Trea slid in shortly after Desmond left in free agency, if I’m not mistaken.
most here would disagree with you. 1 year of asrdubal and tim beckham weren’t enough to justify giving up trea. outfield is the easiest position to fill too. if the rays have it to do over again, they vut the nats out every time and it’s not even close
Souza was never the same player after getting injured in Arizona. Career highlights include a 30 HR season with Tampa Bay and the game saving catch to presrve Jordan Zimmermann’s no-hitter on the final day of the 2014 season while with the Nationals
Can’t help but think he had a disappointing career, but then again he had a much better big league career than 99.9% of all kids (myself included) dreaming of the majors. Good luck to him in the next chapter of his life whether it is coaching or something outside the baseball world.
Plus he can say he hit 30 homers in a season once. Joins an illustrious group with Ike Davis, Mike Jacobs, etc.
Now he’s got plenty of time to do his own research!
he throws out the first pitch at the AS game tonight…..and gets injured !
He was good with TB in 2017 I remember. Its been nothing but bad luck and injuries since.
Had a solid year with the Rays I remember, and was serviceable otherwise; I appreciated the way he played hard every play.
But as a Rays fan? When I hear Souza’s name, I think of Trea Turner, and what could have been…if they had simply traded Wil straight up for Trea…. It is one example of a time when the Rays did *not* win a trade. Yes, Wil has been a disappointment, but Trea…ugh.
The Rays often don’t win trades. A lot of people have just decided to stick with the idea that the Tampa front office is infallible at all times despite the evidence to the contrary.
Right no one wins all the trades. They just do a better job than most front offices.
Ask the dodgers if they regret trading Yordan Alvarez now or Pedro Martinez way back in the past.
Do you really think they’d nix the pedro martinez for delino deshields trade?
He’s one that definitely lost his chance due to injury. Or that’s what I believe in any case.
As it is he had a very decent career by length and should have the financial freedom to do whatever he wants to do now.
He still has a chance at a World Series ring….He must hope Seattle continues winning
About time. He stinks.
Crazy that the dude was part of two three team trades in his career, and fairly big ones at that. Those trades are always an interesting study – it seems like someone always does quite well off of them, while another club gets hoisted.
Cooperstown bound.