Twelve-year big league veteran Mitch Moreland didn’t play during the 2022 season, and the 37-year-old confirmed to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that his days as a player are now behind him. “I’m retired,” Moreland said, noting that he’s enjoyed being able to spend the past year-plus with his family. Bradford adds that Moreland is currently in Red Sox camp to work with some younger players after getting an invite from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Alex Cora.
Selected by the Rangers in the 17th round of the 2007 draft, Moreland was in the big leagues just over three years later, making a strong impression with a .255/.364/.469 slash and nine homers in 173 plate appearances as a rookie. That strong showing set the stage for a torrid postseason effort in which a then 24-year-old Moreland batted .348/.400/.500 with a homer and four doubles, helping Texas advance to the World Series, where they fell to the Giants in a 4-1 series loss.
From that point forth, Moreland was entrenched as a big leaguer. He logged regular time in each of the next 11 seasons, serving as a slick-fielding, righty-mashing slugger in the middle of the order for the Rangers, Red Sox and — more briefly — Padres and Athletics. Along the way, Moreland won a Gold Glove for his work at first base with the Rangers and secured an All-Star nod with the Red Sox, who signed him as a free agent prior to the 2017 season and twice re-signed him in free agency — first for two years (2018-19) and then for another one-year deal (2020).
The 2018 season was a big one for Moreland not only due to his All-Star selection but also from a big-picture standpoint; while Moreland’s Rangers fell shy in consecutive World Series appearances in 2010-11, he reached the Fall Classic for a third time with the ’18 Red Sox and this time captured the championship that had twice eluded him in the past. As with the 2010 Rangers, Moreland played a big role in the Red Sox’ postseason success that year, slashing .294/.368/.529 in 19 plate appearances. That included a pinch-hit, three-run bomb at Dodger Stadium in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the World Series — a blast that jumpstarted a late-inning rally which saw Boston score nine runs en route to a comeback victory (video).
The Red Sox wound up trading Moreland to the Padres for a pair of prospects (Hudson Potts, Jeisson Rosario) during the shortened 2020 season. He scuffled through a small sample of 73 plate appearances before again heating up in the postseason, where he went 4-for-8 with a double. Moreland inked a one-year deal with Oakland that offseason but was limited to 82 games by ribcage and wrist injuries.
That proved to be the final season of Moreland’s playing career, and while it may not have ended with a flourish, it’s easy to look back and see a successful career — particularly for a 17th-round pick. Moreland retires as a lifetime .251/.318/.446 hitter in the regular season. He slugged 186 home runs, 219 doubles and nine triples along the way, while piling up 1,020 hits, 527 runs scored and 618 runs batted in. As previously mentioned, he won a Gold Glove and was named to the American League All-Star team. Between his solid arbitration numbers and a quartet of free-agent contracts, Moreland made about $36MM in salary over the course of his 12 seasons in the Majors.
And, while many players go the majority of their career without sniffing the postseason, Moreland’s teams reached the playoffs in an incredible eight of his 12 big league seasons. He added on another 150 plate appearances over the life of 52 postseason games, batting .259/.329/.422 during that time. Congratulations to Moreland on a fine career, and best wishes in whatever lies ahead in his post-playing days.
All the best to Mitchy2Bags.
Loved what he brought to the table but in hindsight I’ve wondered if the Sox in 18 knew what pitches were coming. MM was injured, could barely run ala Kirk Gibson and yet demolished that pitch in the WS as a PH.
That pitch was the definition of meatball
Perhaps but the Sox in 18 seemed to be on mostly every pitcher that post season. JBJ’s big championship series HR’s, Holt hitting for the cycle against the Yankees, MM pinch hit bomb, etc. I’m not a conspiracy theorist nut but after Cora and the Astros in 17, I try to be objective regardless of the involved team.
A couple of things run counter to that.
1-Moreland didn’t have a special season. His OPS that year was 102, against a career 102.
2-The game in which he hit the HR was at LA, and I doubt they were getting a CF feed during the game.
3-And he was 0-7 in his other ABs. If he was getting info, it wasn’t doing him a whole lot of good.
Thanks Joe. Appreciate others also objectively looking at the past.
Both the ’17 and ’18 series’ have one thing in common: they both ended at Dodger Stadium. Kind of hard to cheat in the other teams house. That ’18 championship came mostly by riding Sale, Eovaldi, and Price into the ground while getting a strong performance from Steve Pearce of all people.
Joseph – Except for the part where you miscounted, that’s actually a post of yours I agree with!
Except for the part where you miscounted
========================
Just for fun, what was the miscount?
I think he was making fun that a couple of things is two, not three. I guess the grammar police would say, “A few things ….”
Congrats to MM for completing ten years of MLB service. That is a major accomplishment.
MLB put monitors in each team’s video rooms starting in the 2018 postseason.
Joseph – You have a peculiar definition of “fun”.
You wrote “couple”, then listed three.
I was just bringing some humor to the conversation. Try it sometime, it’s “fun”.
Fair enough. It’s kind of interesting because i do that all the time. Sometimes it’ll be along the lines of ‘just three things’ which morph into 2 or 4. At first, it was just a mistake not reviewing for agreement. But after a while, I’d leave them in to see if anyone would notice or comment.
But this was not one of those cases. I didn’t pick it up even after you pointed it out.
What everyone is ignoring is Applegate shows there are many ways to cheat if you’re so inclined. Due to PEDs, I just try to look for signs. So many things happened right in 18 and given Cora’s history, nothing would surprise me.
Joe – I do the same thing, I have a set number of points in my mind and inevitably come up with more and then forget to go back and edit the number in my preface.
I appreciate your candor, respect.
Mitch gave us a bunch of great memories. For that everyone should wish him well, he was one of those guys you liked seeing there when chips were on the line.
Enjoy retirement!
GASox – Agreed! One of Dombrowski’s many great acquisitions.
And Bloom’s trade of Moreland in 2020 of course was a colossal failure.
At the time Mitch had a 1.177 OPS, but the two “prospects” Bloom received in return are both already gone from the Red Sox organization.
Fever, you can’t be an armchair QB. Moreland was never getting the Sox a big return. I love DD but he wasn’t perfect either. No GM is.
dewey – I agree about a big return, but surely Bloom could have gotten more than two duds who never sniffed the majors and were let go so soon after.
Kudos to him! Appreciated his brief time with my Friars. Best of luck to him in retirement!
Was there a bigger pinch hit in Redsox history?? Forever grateful MM!!!
Yes, indeed! Got a ring,. Decent career. And made a good salary. All the best to him,
olmtiant – Nothing against Mitch’s big hit, but to answer your question … yes, there was a bigger pinch hit in Red Sox history.
Mr. Bernie Carbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPJfLELW2Ew
Fever…. I stand semi corrected…. While BC hit staved off defeat and series over… they did go on to lose the series as Fisk would say 3-4…. But I definitely see your point… this is when the beloved got their hooks in a 9!year old from Cicero Illinois… love the World Series tape of Joe G talking about Luis Tiant running the bases!!!
olmtiant – I see your point, Mitch’s hit contributed to a series victory while Bernie’s did not. Yes those were memorable days!
See you in Cooperstown, Mitch.
Hey, Mitch.Give the deer a break.
EricTheBat: Lmk when you & Mitch are going to Cooperstown. Maybe I’ll join the two of you for lunch. It’d be my treat of course. Heck,if you leave the tip I might even spring for a souvenir or two.
I remember when the Rangers chose him over Chris Davis, I was not happy with that move at the time. Turned out to be the right one looking back now. Happy retirement.
They chose him over Justin Smoak as well. Texas made the right decision.
1B in the AL during the 2018 season must have been pretty weak given that he was named to the All Star Game with a slash line of .245/.325/.433 and a 102 OPS+.
Ultimately, though, he made $35M so good on him. All the best in retirement.
Just had a bad second half that season that weighed down his numbers. Through the end of June he was sitting on a .900 OPS/136 wRC+.
Steve – That is precisely why it perplexes me sometimes how All-Star appearances are often hyped on MLBTR.
All it takes to be an All-Star is a good 3-month stretch, or being on a team that is so bad there’s no other All-Star caliber players (BTW I’ve always liked how every team must be represented by at least one player).
Pity you don’t even know the Allstar game is played in early July. You think it’s played after the regular season ends. Look up his first half numbers then it will click for you.
Similar to JDM last year (who I think will have a good season in LA).
I thought it was played in January.
York – No, the MLB All-Star Game is typically played in July. That is why your use of Mitch’s full season stats to mock his All-Star selection is inappropriate.
I believe you are mixing up the NFL Pro Bowl, which used to always be played in January.
@Fever Pitch Guy
I know. I was making fun of myself for making such a dumb post. I wasn’t even thinking when I posted the OP.
York – Thank you for the explanation.
The ASG is played in July, not October. He hit .278/.353/.500/.853 in the 1st half with a 128 OPS+. Only Smoak was doing as well with the bat in the AL when the voting happened. He deserved to be there.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=bat&lg=al&qual=250&type=1&season=2018&month=30&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2018-01-01&enddate=2018-12-31
Sorry. 134 OPS=.
websoul – Exactly! York has written the MLB All-Star Game is always played in January, so I believe he’s mixing it up with the NFL Pro Bowl.
Not bad for a 17th Rounder! 12 year career, Gold Glove and a WS with Boston. Helped Texas multiple times get to the playoffs and 2 WS. He hit the 1st Homer in WS history for Texas! Congrats and enjoy it as you earned every second if it!
Excellent situational hitter. Not surprised that the Red Sox invited him to spring training. Good guy with a good baseball mind.
Players like Moreland, Napoli, Millar and Johnny Gomes were invaluable to the Red Sox during their championship runs. Perhaps Chaim finally realizes this as he did bring in Justin Turner this year (albeit a much older Turner). Boston probably one wins 1 or 2 championships instead of 4 without guys like this. Congrats, Mitch on a great career! Would love to see you get into coaching over the next few years.
I don’t think the win any without Millar’s “Cowboy Up’
It ended the Curse and got the ball rolling
DM… love that you realize the contributions of as so called roll players to some extent… going back to 04 championship I’ve always wanted to give do to the Leskanic”s / Lackey/ and the others you have mentioned.. and of course my buddy Brais in 18… unheralded no doubt.. but before MM ph homer a good trivia was ph homer in WS.. 07… won a few beers on this one…. None other than Bobby Kielty
Happy retirement dude. Great job with the RS.
One of the best to ever do it.
Solid career, fun to watch with the Rangers. Happy retirement
You did good,MM…enjoy the next phase of your vida!
I thought he did that a year ago
Well deserved retirement. See you in Cooperstown Mitch.
Tickets are $29.95
Well deserved retirement. See you in Cooperstown Mitch.
Tickets are $29.99
Good Luck Mitch!
Many good memories in Arlington!
Be best!
He was a right masher, often platooned against lefties
Moreland, a middling, middle-of-the-order masher, moves on meandering more or less to more meaningful and monumental merriments.
Good job Mitch. Loved you in Boston.
That 2018 WS G4 HR was his crowning moment I think. Nice solid career, good guy too it seems.
Moreland is a good dude and he earned nearly $36 million playing major league baseball. 99.999% of all baseball players everywhere can only dream of that. Congratulations to him.
Good not great player, but the kind all teams need,
“And, while many players go the majority of their career without sniffing the postseason, Moreland’s teams reached the playoffs in an incredible eight of his 12 big league seasons.”
No. Don’t use a comma after a conjunction. Learn this, please. It should be:
“And while many players go the majority of their career without sniffing the postseason, Moreland’s teams reached the playoffs in an incredible eight of his 12 big league seasons.”
No. Don’t use a comma after a conjunction. Learn this, please. It should be:
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I’m not sure anyone will remember this, but this might be more up your alley.
There use to be a comic strip about a black family. The grandmother was an English teacher, and maybe once every 5-6 weeks, the writer would sneak in a little grammar lesson under the guise of the grandmother teaching her (grown-up) son something.
I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I enjoy your corrections as well. In one of the other threads about Turner, two posters used ‘skiddish’ instead of ‘skittish’. I’d have corrected them, but then that would only have forced you to correct me.
Glad you appreciate them. 99% of people just hate on me for them.
HEY MITCH – Thanks for all you did to make the Red Sox successful in the good old days!!
With all the money Devers now makes he should buy you a real nice sports car or SUV for all the errors that were caught by you!!! You were a gold glover and a key contributor on offense. Your low salary allowed DD to spend big in other positions which led to 3 division championships and a RING!!
All of Red Sox Nation tips their hat to you for a great Boston career.
Pulled – Great post! Yes signing Mitch twice were excellent moves by Dombrowski.
And shame on Bloom for trading him in 2020 and getting two scrubs in return that were let go within 2 years.
I have a theory that Mitch Moreland and Logan Morrison are the same person.
Around the same time the Red Sox signed Moreland the Padres signed Eric Hosmer to a huge contract.Moreland had moe production than Hosmer and with about half as many at bats.Defensively he was a good as Hosmer maybe even better.