Outfielder Michael Brantley is going to retire, he tells Jon Morosi of MLB.com. “It’s time for me to be home 24/7, watch my kids grow up, and not miss important milestones,” he said.
Brantley, now 36, has spent over a decade as one of the best hitters in the league but his health has been a significant issue in recent years. In 2022, he played just 64 games before getting shut down with right shoulder discomfort. He eventually required surgery, which wiped out the second half of that campaign. The issue lingered into 2023 and he didn’t make it back to the big leagues until late August. He continued battling soreness even when activated off the injured list and only made 57 plate appearances over 15 games on the year. He made 32 more plate appearances for the Astros in the postseason but hit just .179/.281/.321 in those. He received some interest from the Blue Jays this winter but it appears he will hang up his spikes instead.
In the seventh round of the 2005 draft, Brantley was selected by the Brewers, though he would never appear in the big leagues for that club. In July of 2008, the Brewers sent Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson and a player to be named later to Cleveland for C.C. Sabathia. Though Cleveland was reportedly choosing between multiple players as that PTBNL, they ultimately went with Brantley in October.
In retrospect, that decision could hardly have worked out better. Brantley didn’t immediately hit the ground running in the majors, getting some brief looks in the years after the trade. He started to get regular playing time from 2011 to 2013, hitting .280/.334/.394 over those years for a wRC+ of 101. He only struck out in 11.6% of his plate appearances, just over half of league averages at that time, showcasing a high-contact approach that would come to be one of his signatures. He was given the nickname “Dr. Smooth” at this time, in honor of his aesthetically pleasing approach.
The club clearly believed in the young doctor, signing him to a four-year, $25MM extension going into 2014, with a club option for 2018. Their faith in him paid off, as he immediately had a tremendous breakout season, hitting 20 home runs and only striking out in 8.3% of his plate appearances. His .327/.385/.506 batting line translated to a 151 wRC+, indicating he was 51% better than the league average hitter. He also stole 23 bases and received solid grades for his outfield defense. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 6.5 wins above replacement, while Baseball Reference had him at 7.0. He finished third in American League MVP voting, behind Mike Trout and Victor Martinez.
His 2015 saw him produce similarly, though just a notch below that elite 2014 campaign. After that came some injury struggles, however. He underwent right shoulder surgery after the 2015 campaign and the issue lingered into 2016. He only played 11 games that season and eventually required a second surgery. With Brantley sitting out the remainder of the campaign, Cleveland still made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series, though they eventually lost to the Cubs.
Brantley was back in 2017 but an ankle strain limited him to 90 games. He hit .299/.357/.444 for a wRC+ of 109, below his previous highs but it was nonetheless encouraging after a mostly lost season. In 2018, he shook off some of the rust and was able to slash .309/.364/.468 for a wRC+ of 125. Cleveland returned to the postseason in those years but fell in the ALDS both times. It seems that everyone in Cleveland knew his time there was likely coming to an end, with a report from Chandler Rome and Zack Meisel of The Athletic relaying that everyone in the room cried during his exit interview as he reached free agency.
The Astros had won the World Series in 2017 but then lost the ALCS in 2018. Looking for a clubhouse leader to replace departed veterans like Carlos Beltrán and Brian McCann, they signed Brantley to a two-year, $32MM deal. He took to the leadership role, quickly earning the new moniker of “Uncle Mike.” The second season of that pact ended up being interrupted by the pandemic but Brantley was healthy enough to play 194 out of 222 possible games. He hit .309/.370/.497 in that time for a wRC+ of 132. The Astros made the playoffs both times but lost the 2019 World Series to the Nationals and were dropped in the 2020 ALCS.
Brantley returned to the Astros on another two-year $32MM deal and had another signature season in 2021, hitting .311/.362/.437 for a wRC+ of 121. The Astros were once again felled in the World Series, this time to Atlanta. As mentioned above, Brantley’s 2022 was cut short by yet another shoulder surgery and he had to miss the second half of the season. Though he wasn’t able to play, the report from Rome and Meisel linked above relays that he led a players’ meeting as they were down 2-1 to the Phillies in the World Series. They went on to win the next three games and finally get Brantley a World Series ring.
He now retires having made 6,149 plate appearances in 1,445 regular season games. He only struck out in 10.7% of those trips to the plate, playing in an era where the league-wide rate often pushed well beyond double that. He batted .298/.355/.439 overall while getting 1,656 hits, 348 doubles, 25 triples and 129 home runs. He stole 125 bases, scored 758 runs and drove in 720. He produced 28.8 fWAR and 34.3 bWAR, earning over $112MM in the process. He also played in 62 postseason games between his two clubs. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Brantley on an excellent career and wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.
Good luck to him. It’s good to know when to say “when”.
Not receiving any offers as a free agent is a fairly strong hint.
Kiner Falefa just got 7.5 per for 2 seasons and you think no team was going to offer Brantley a contract to DH. Sure
If they did, why didn’t he accept?
The more likely case is that his agent made the rounds checking with teams, and either they were unwilling to offer any real money or a major league contract, didn’t like his medicals and he would’ve had trouble passing a physical exam, or both.
These decisions aren’t made in a vacuum based on no communication or information.
Maybe he didn’t accept because of his injuries and spending time with family…
BB
“If they did, why didn’t he accept?”
He preferred retirement
You don’t know what happened. No one else here knows what happened.
Perhaps be a little less sure
He is saving his shoulder strength for picking up his kids. Don’t blame him.
This guy is always the worst
I mean he has a family
Amen and honestly who cares he had a nice career and did it the right way. Zhe worked hard and has supported his family along with them supporting him. Enjoy your retirement. He may have never played for the Brewers but thank you for helping us turn the fortunes around in your own way
He was a hitting machine with the Astros and Cleveland.
A pure old school type hitter. Congrats on a great career.
I’m sure your family love you lol. Brantley has 100+ million earned before taxes. If he has even a tiny bit of sense then he has most of that remaining. He’s lucky enough to retire early and spend the rest of his life doing other things (in this case spending time with family)
We all seem to forget that these are jobs for all these athletes. He easily could have made 6-10 million this year, but he chose to have more time with his family instead.
@ForDoingNothing: He could have made more this year.
Unless, of course, he couldn’t. None of us know if he could have passed the physical for a new contract.
@Blue Baron
Remember when Mike Cuddyer retired? He still had a contract with a bunch of money on the table. Sometimes guys just feel that they’re good with money, and just want to do something else with their lives, while going out on their own terms. He made a bunch of money, and he also has a ring. He’ll never be a Hall of Famer. Why not just ride off into the sunset and enjoy the rest of his life with his family, his money, and do other things that he’s passionate about?
If you made his money, would you really keep coming back if you could stop traveling to stay home with your family, and do other things you love, that you’ll now be able to for the rest of your life – at his age?
Not sure what I would do, but you might well be correct.
@Blue Baron
Come on. You know just like I do. If you or I made Brantley’s money, at some point, even if we’re still capable to do a solid job at our careers, it’s going to be hard to be motivated to get out of bed to get to work when you have enough financial stability to just call it quits, sleep in with the spouse, hang with the kids later on, and spend the rest of your life doing the hobbies you enjoy most. All the while, since most athletes play their sport because they’re good at it the same way a lot of us take on the highest paying career that’s not necessarily our most favorite thing, when you have financial stability, you can do your favorite thing. How many people wouldn’t as soon as they feel they can? I’m pretty sure you’d leave your career if you had his money.
Now be quiet, blue baron.
Don’tcha know? Intellectuals are NEVER wrong…
Always traveling and making that much money, but never really spending time with your family is something some guys don’t wanna do, even if they are still MLB caliber, at the end of the day, they just want to be with there kids before they can’t
@fre5hwind: It’s more likely that they want to be with THEIR kids.
Now STFU, FanOfTheUmpires.
And your village called and the people there want their idiot back, so you need to leave now.
Safe travels!
Your pathetic, for being pity over grammar
YOU’RE even more pathetic for being unable to write a coherent sentence.
You should have learned that by 8th or 9th grade.
ENOUGH, blue baron. No more comments on this website from you today.
The Astros now have an opening as long as you can keep beat on that trash can. Good rhythm guys are hard to come by
Rick Pernell seems like the guy you want to avoid at party’s but keeps following you talking nonsense.
@filihok: It was a legitimate question.
And “The more likely case” is a suggestion, not a definitive statement.
Why don’t you rip on Mystery13 for being so sure he could’ve received an offer because another player did?
Youre always full of “legitimate” questions arent you? You are SO exhausting. Its like you pose questions and lame arguments just to get some form of human interaction.
When I have a question or opinion, I express it.
If you have an issue with that, don’t read my comments or, better yet, go pound sand.
I get more than enough human interaction in real life, so I don’t need to seek it out online, and certainly not with blowhards like you.
Be quiet, blue baron. Enough of you already. No more!!!
I absolutely doubt that you get any human interaction outside this site. Its clear looking at people responding to you that everyone is tired of your lame opinions and tired questions. Quick to call me a blowhard when you took offense to being appropriately called a clown! So sensitive!
BB
“And “The more likely case” is a suggestion, not a definitive statement.”
Again
THIS was your original statement
“Not receiving any offers as a free agent is a fairly strong hint.”
Stating something unknowable to you as a certainty.
Enough out of bb already. No more!!!
OK, cwizzy6, feel free to contact my family and the 250+ clients of my firm and ask them how much human interaction I get.
You are a textbook case of someone who should keep your piehole shut and just look like a fool instead of opening it, spewing about that which you know nothing, and sounding like one as well.
I’ve told you at least twice now that you are as free to ignore my comments as I am to post them.
Happy new year to you.
@FanOfTheUmpires: I will post as much as I please.
If you have an issue with that, ignore my comments or go pound sand.
Lots more! You may ignore me, but you cannot make me stop speaking my mind.
No more comments, blue baron. Stop now!!!
Feel free to provide that contact information at any time, tough guy.
Don’t forget for his 300 person company hahaha.
@FanOfTheUmpires: No. It’s too much fun watching you get unhinged!
@bb Or you know, maybe he just decided he didn’t want to spend hours in a trainers room every day to be able to DH and play the odd outfield game. Maybe he felt those hours were better spent being with his family. Only an ignoramus would think that a team wouldn’t be willing to give a great hitter a contract when that player had a plus war in only 15 games played
“Three people liked my Astros drum post, Ma!”
“That’s baby!”
“Hey guys remember when OBAMA was president,” says the Astros-Drum dude almost FOUR presidents later.
Go get back on Twitch, bro – live stream that game feed!
Oh look, Blue Baron shoots his mouth off with a snide comment again, and totally ignores that many guys are still awaiting offers at this point in the offseason. Clown!
And you have nothing intelligent to say, so you resort to name calling.
MLB is a small industry. It wouldn’t have taken long for his agent to discern that no team was willing to make a decent offer, perhaps because of his medicals, and advise him to retire on his own terms.
UJ
“Oh look, Blue Baron shoots his mouth off with a snide comment again,”
That’s what happens when one can’t get attention for making intelligent comments
Better bad attention than no attention
He’s easily one of the most winded posters always ready to “ask legitimate questions”. So exhausting.
@cwizzy6: Again, you are free to ignore my comments. It’s a free country with freedom of expression.
@bb but you never have anything intelligent to say. Literally one of the least educated people I’ve ever seen post about baseball. Yet it’s always the least educated who are the most certain
@ubaldo, lol!
@Blue Baron That one gave me a chuckle. Seriously though, I think you might be right in the sense that he hasn’t or won’t receive “any good offers” rather than literally “any offers”.
Brantley has made good money playing for good teams and coaches most of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “one year/blind date” sort of deal on a new team doesn’t appeal to him.
Billy Sample once told me that he retired because he was only offered a minor league contract. I wonder if Brantley faced a similar situation.
I’m amazed at some of the comments on here implying that fans know what they actually don’t know.
Players and their agents aren’t stupid or uninformed, so they’re not going to make a career/life decision like this on a whim.
@filihok: Is it also better to call someone a clown for making an intelligent comment?
What’s up with that?
BB
This is your original comment
“Not receiving any offers as a free agent is a fairly strong hint.”
It is not intelligent
It asserts something as true that cannot know
Los Karens fan?
@filihok: But it’s a very possible if not likely scenario. Players generally continue playing and wanting to be paid to do so until the market tells them they no longer can.
I have actually been a credentialed member of the media and spoken with a couple of agents and former players who told me that.
Intelligent enough for you?
@bb Brandon belt got almost 10 million last offseason after a couple injury seasons and one absolutely horrible platform year. Brantley still hits when healthy. There is your problem evidence that one GM in all of baseball would have offered Brantley a contract
But none of us know if he’s healthy enough to pass a physical, and my guess is that’s what is behind his decision.
Enough, blue baron.
I post as I please and see fit.
If you don’t like it, go pound sand.
That’s not what happened. The math says he figured out that he now has no chance at the Hall of Fame, which is one of the biggest motivators for players over 35 to keep playing. It’s why King Felix hung it up. He realized that he’s better off trying to get in with his shorter resume of excellence (like Koufax) than trying to play another ten years to reach similar levels of HOF players from counting stats.
To be on the cusp of the HOF you need 50 WAR minimum unless you’re a reliever getting in based on a much smaller contribution to their team because they have an elite number of a worthless counting stat like “saves”, despite being a failed starter. You know which players! *cough*-vera *cough*-man. The standard for serious consideration in really 60-70 WAR normally, but team does matter.
@TGWATA was thinking something along those lines as well.
I say good for him too. He’s not his peak self and he’s 36 and made plenty of money and had a career to be proud of. Its true he wasn’t getting anything of any value but lots of players continue through that situation but he passed good for him enjoy your family
best wishes and congratulations on his career to him and to his family, genuinely kind of surprised though, he probably couldve gotten 9M or so from someone like toronto
criminally underrated player
Yes but also a “what if” player imo. Had he been more healthy throughout his career he would be a borderline hall of famer.
Idk if he’s underrated. a generational talent maybe. Like he’s the best you can do when u can’t find someone to hit the ball over the fence or need speed.
He definitely got his due for a player that was injured as much as he was healthy.
If you mean he was not as credited as other Astros hitters for their success yes I agree with you.
Man was the definition of a professional hitter.
Hell of a career. Dude did a lot of work for me in my keeper league.
Did the Keeper League have a trash can or is that only in real baseball?
Brantley didn’t use the trashcan…
Yes and Mark McGwire just thought Jose Cansecos locker was a cool place to be.
he wasn’t on the team in 2017… he didn’t join them til 19
Pay the astros back for all the money you stole the last two years !!!
Funny.
As soon as the Astros return the 2017 trophy. Talk about stealing.
Nothing was stolen in 2017
Houston didn’t steal the trophy. LAD lost games 2 and 7 at home. Your comment is not informed and ignorant
No it’s not, it’s just over stated. Astros cheating gave them an unfair advantage. But to say it was the sole reason they won is equally ignorant.
The Black Sox scandal and its repercussions significantly hampered the White Sox for years if not decades. MLB not handing down significant punishments was scandalous and everything they have done during that season and since is BS.
@steve THE ASTROS CHEATED. Case closed
What am uneducated comment. They were the only team punched in which it is extremely obvious they weren’t the only team doing it. They were also punished severely, while being scapegoated. Losing 4 top picks has hurt the depth. Losing a great GM that was greatly responsible for the dynasty has been felt. They were punished much worse than they should have been. Just because the Astros continued to be good doesn’t change that fact. It is just karma for them taking the fall the league.
L comment
@Tacoshells: What an amazingly dumb comment.
Nobody stole any money, and his salary certainly didn’t come out of your pocket.
Enjoy retirement Mr Glass.
Byron Buxton hasn’t retired?
Giancarlo Stanton isn’t a former player
Great career hampered by injury at times. I respect that he’s prioritizing his wife and his kids’ growth after prioritizing Baseball for so long.
Wise move! Retire as soon as you are able!
So, nobody would pay him what he wants. He’ll be a roving hitting instructor in about six weeks.
He couldn’t get Paid as a player, you say, but he’ll get paid as a roving instructor?!
over 10 years so he’s vested for retirement at $500k per year and lifetime family medical. Not a bad going away present…congrats
Dude could have been one of the ones if his body would have cooperated.
Seems reasonable considering Jim Crane over those same years saw his investment quintuple in value based on guys like Brantley’s play.
Such a pleasure reading negative classless comments from “fans”.
Injuries cost him, was a good player. Would have had a chance to be a great player without all the injuries.
Very respectable decision. Might have been a hall of famer if he was healthy throughout his career.
I don’t care what he said. No one wants to be home and around their kids 24/7.
Yup. He sounds like a guy who has not spent a lot of time with his kids, lol
Sounds like maybe the wife influenced his decision!
Some people love their kids.
Those people don’t have teenagers.
Too bad, darn good hitter. No TJ type of surgery for the shoulder unfortunately. Good luck in your endeavors!
@halloffamernobodycares: He was “one of the ones.” He was a MLB player.
Very few players last long in MLB if they even make it in the first place.
Yeah. You’re gaslighting wrong.
He could have gotten something.
Damn
Wanted him to round out the Dodgers’ outfield.
Even if you’re an Astros-hater you gotta like and respect Brantley. Injuries definitely slowed him down towards the end, but this guy was the consummate professional hitter, and by all accounts a good dude to boot. Was hoping he’d help out another AL/NL contender (anyone but LA/Houston basically) but you can understand given age/health why he decided to hang ‘em up. He had a great career, though.
he’ll always be a cleveland indian to me
Guardian
@deGrom/Kershaw: He couldn’t have gotten anything if he was unable to pass a physical exam.
The article said Toronto was interested. If I had to guess, which we all are, I’d say that he’s sick of rehabbing his shoulder and his family far outweighs that. It’s not like he needs the cash lol
Cleveland legend
DR SMOOTH 🙂
Brantley was a great guy. He knew it was time. I doubt he wanted to keep going. I think he knew after the surgery and trying to return and the little he gave at the end. He really at this stage. Is thinking about his family. His children and not going all out. A very respectable man. I do wish him the best.
So ends a 98 percentile career in terms of success. And longevity. And despite his injuries , he still performed as a quality player well into his 30s. That’s pretty special.
Wow, I didn’t see that one coming.
Class act. Always enjoyed watching Brantley hit. Congrats to MB.
One of the great “what if” players of the 21st century. I think of him as similar to Troy Tulowitzki. Definitely in the HOF discussion if not for injuries.
Joey Votto should take a hint
I think Joey is getting one. Just didn’t really recover well from the injury. You could tell.
I have said all offseason I get the feeling he’ll be back with the Reds but not necessarily on the field.
He does make some sense down in Miami or in Detroit as a DH/clubhouse guy, but I think he adds more value to the Reds and the city of Cincinnati in whatever role they may create.
Tigers have Carpenter at DH. Plus, I’m sure they’ll want Greene to take some ab’s there too. Until he’s got some durability built up from TJ surgery.
What a terrific career. Happy retirement!
Dude had a respectable career despite the injuries.
Congrats on retirement.
Always thought he was similar to Nick Markakis (at least through much of Nick’s career). Such a smart & talented hitter. A real pro at the plate, even if not a big-time homerun hitter.
… equally underrated. Nice comparison, Rishi.
His numbers suggest that he might have semiretired after 2021.
Thanks Mike! You will be missed.
*Blue Jays
It’s early January. Plenty of time left in the off-season for offers/signings. Brantley said he’s retiring to spend more time with his family. Financially, he should be set for life. No reason NOT to believe him. Period.
Good player. I am guessing with all his recent injuries he wasn’t being offered the kind of money to play that he would like so he pulled the plug.
Brantley will be 37 next season and has battled injuries over the past 8 seasons. He made good money and won a World Series ring. Wasn’t close to any significant milestones so it’s perfectly understandable the grind of another season didn’t appeal to him. Good luck to him in retirement
We’ll miss you, Uncle Mike.
I’ve always thought that he looks like he could be related to President Obama
@nosoup.Maybe if you glance very quickly. Brantley a lot better looking that’s for sure.
Maybe MLBTV will have him on for an interview. I think it would be interesting to hear him talk about his career.
“Professional” hitter. Great asset to every team he was on. I think he could still make any team better as a bench bat. All that said, Dusty cost the team wins by playing him and Maldonado as much as they did once Brantley returned. There were some hot bats and better gloves that should’ve been utilized better
Just want to point out that Brantley played for Cleveland in 2017 and didn’t join the Astros until 2019.
Any posts regarding cheating do not belong here.
Great baseball player, even better person ( by all accounts) but bad shoulders.
Enjoy retirement Uncle Mike.
Lmao why? This guy was so underrated and could’ve probably put up another solid 2 to 3 years
“It’s time for me to be home 24/7, watch my kids grow up, and not miss important milestones,”
Isn’t that what he’s been doing for most of his career?!
He only played more than 90 games three times since 2015, and hasn’t played more than 150 games since 2014. He single-handedly rendered All-Star appearances irrelevant when considering HOF enshrinement, based on being a 1st half player who is chronically injured. He was always more good than great and there were always better players who missed the All-Star game because of him getting first half votes.
In 2016 he played 11 games, while in 2023 he played 15 games, and 46 in 2020, as well as 64 in 2022. That’s less games in those four years than he played in either 2018 (143) or 2019 (148), while his last relatively productive and healthy season was 2021 when he managed to play in 3/4 of the Astros games (121 total). Being home is literally the stupidest reason to stop playing, when it comes from a guy who has logged more games during the season on MLB The Show than in the MLB himself over the last 8 years.
The real quote should’ve been, “I’ve struggled the last 10 years to stay healthy and the injuries take away from my passion to play the game, no matter how much fun I have when I’m actually out there on the field. Realistically, if I had a viable chance at the Hall of Fame, I’d probably push through for a couple more years to help my case, but as I get older and I spend more and more time in the trainers room, the reward isn’t worth the effort. I’ve loved my time on the field and playing this game, but it’s time for me to step aside and let the younger guys carry the torch!”
As a Tigers fan, he always scared me in close games with guys on because I knew he wasn’t going to strike out and he was always hitting 300.
You can be good without being a HOF player, but my issue isn’t that he wasn’t good, it was that he was rarely an All-Star, but remember the company you keep in this league and that’s not an insult. For most of Brantley’s career, you could pencil Trout into one of the three OF spots justifiably, and in 2014 he was definitely worthy of an All-Star bid.
In 2017, he hadd the 26th best fWAR among AL outfielders, while Lorenzo Cain (4.7 fWAR) and Brett Gardner (4.5 fWAR), were 3.0 fWAR and 2.8 fWAR better than Michael Brantley (1.7 fWAR) and both missed the All-Star game. There were others like Reddick and Souze who were also overlooked despite nearly 4.0 WAR seasons.
In 2018, Benintendi (5.0 fWAR), Rosario (4.4 fWAR), and Hicks (4.3 fWAR) were all more deserving All-Star picks than Brantley (3.4 fWAR), but again better players were overlooked and not chosen, partly due to every team requires a representative, and partly due to the fact that Brantley was a better 1st half player that season.
In 2019, Bratley was the 7th best AL OF in the game and probably deserved his All-Star spot more due to the lack of health amonth the top players and roster configuration. Judge missed the game due to injury, while Laureano and Kepler were overlooked despite better overall seasons, probably mostly due to Laureano starting out slower, and Kepler losing out to a numbers game with Berrios and Polanco already being on the team.
In 2021, it simply came down to Brantley jumping out to a fast start and then regressing significantly in the second half. He was probably deserving when the totals were tallied, but as the season went along, his regression pulled him further down the list. The biggest misses were Kyle Tucker (4.5 fWAR) and Randy Arozarena (3.3 fWAR), with lots of big name players struggling to stay healthy, such as Trout, Buxton, Robert, Alvarez, and Springer to name a few.
Uncle Mike-
As great a player on field, dugout, clubhouse you were, your a better human being-
With the fans and communities that were graced to call you theirs.
God Bless you and your family as you move into a new phase of your journey!!
Brantley always scared me when he was with Cleveland facing my Tigers with men on base. I knew he wasn’t going to strike out
Be scared no more, my friend.
Brantley was definitely one of the players that i always thought “that’s a professional hitter.”
Yeah, like Jose Vidro, Ty France, and Luis Arraez. It’s just a nice way to say they suck at everything other than making contact. Usually you are talking about a guy who averages less than 20 HR, hits for a strong average, doesn’t strikeout a ton, plays average defense or worse, and is an average runner at best. We’ve just adopted it as a way to say a player is good, but it’s really meant as an insult by announcers trying to find a nice way to say that they suck at every other aspect of the game.
Pure class, baseball needs more gentleman like Michael.
His retirement tour has been Deferred.
Since Brantley is retiring, the guardians have a assisant hitting coach opening for Michael dad. Hire his dad guardians now.
Should I call an ambulance for you? I’m worried something happened to you while you were typing that comment!
If anybody is reading this who is with Chrome 8550, roll him on his side and clear his airway, do not try to restrict his movements.
I don’t think anyone truly understands how important Brantley was to the Astro’s success early on. Swap Brantley out for Giancarlo Stanton and the Astros would be chasing the Yankees for years instead of it being the other way around.
Yeah, they needed something to replace all the trash they got rid of after 2017!
The wording makes it seem like Cleveland took a while to decide on Brantley as the PTBNL in the Sabathia deal, but he was their first choice all along if I remember correctly.
I think I remember reading that they had a conditional deal with the Brewers based on if they made the playoffs. If the Brewers missed the playoffs, they would have sent Taylor Green to Cleveland. But since they made the playoffs, Cleveland got Brantley.
Brantley had the finest swing I’ve ever seen. It had zero unnecessary motion.
His defense was the same…as simple as could be. Not blessed with plus speed or arm, but he was quick to the ball and with the throw…and extremely accurate. He played balls off the wall as well as anybody.
If you are teaching a youngster how to hit and play outfield, video of Brantley would be perfect.
I’m sorry you never watched Griffey or Cano in their prime. My condolences.
Did Brantley bang your mom or something bud? You’re literally all over this thread trolling hard about a player nobody has anything bad to say about lol.
Hey, get off my mom, cause I just got off yours!
He’s an Astros player who basically said he was too good to come to Seattle despite growing up in Bellevue while his dad was a Mariner (Mickey Brantley), then he went and signed with the garbage bangers! Plus, he’s always been good (I said that before), but he’s not the GOAT everyone is trying to say he was based on these comments! I mean there have been better players to never reach their potential because of injuries, and took far more criticism. I’m just trying to add some balance to the discussion, but thank you for reading all of my comments, I’ll get you a link to my twitter so you and your mom can both follow me!
So it’s all about not signing with the Mariners? Be mad at the Mariners then…..players go where the most money is offered %99.99 of the time. Be mad at the owners. Be mad at Seattle for being a city with some of the highest taxes and the biggest drug/homelessness problem in the world. Be mad that the Mariners play in baseball Siberia. Grow up Peter Pan.
Juniors swing was one of the greatest of all time, but he had a lot more motion than Brantley.
Brantley didn’t wiggle and he didn’t take much of a stride, if any. It was a lot like early Pujols.
If I’m teaching a kid to hit a baseball, I want it to be as simple as possible…and thats Brantley.
No timing devises and no stride.
And if I’m teaching a girl to hit a softball, its Brantley all the way.
Congrats to Brantley on a great baseball career.
It was a pleasure to watch him come up to the plate. Difficult to strikeout, would work the count and always had a good or great batting average so he was always giving his team a chance to drive in a runner. These types of hitters are always great for the game.
Always thought he was a bit of a current day Al Oliver without the level of health. Excellent hitter. Still had a fine career. Always hoped he got his wish to play for the Yankees.
Interesting that he retired. The bat was still there, but with $100MM plus in earnings, he gets to call when he exits.
Brantley was a great pickup by Houston and Inwas jealous my home team didn’t make an offer.
However,Mathis needs to be fixed,
The Astros had “won” the World Series in 2017…. It needed quotes.
Doesn’t need the quotes at all. It happened and was wouldn’t have happened had LA won at home.
The Dodgers wouldn’t have needed to win Game 7 at home had Houston not cheated so blatantly in game 5..
In fact, they may not have played Houston at all had the Astros not cheated to win in the playoffs.
I always liked Brantley even though, as a Tiger fan, I hated him. I’ve never forgotten an S.I. article about him where he said his dad taught him growing up to be ready to hit the 1st pitch. After that, I paid more attention to his approach, and sure enough, he would often go after that 1st pitch. I’ve always liked guys who went up there and wanted to hack at that 1st pitch strike.
Altuve is another one. In his prime, Miguel Cabrera loved to pounce on that 1st pitch. Carew did it. Pete Rose.
I will miss Brantley. Good luck to him.
Thank you for everything uncle Mike. Its has been a pleasure having you as an Astro. We will miss you!
One of the Indians’ better players of the 2010s!
Congrats to him on a very nice career, 5x All-Star, Silver Slugger, 1,656 H, 758 R, 348 2B, 129 HR, 720 RBI and 125 SB, including 4 campaigns with double-digit home runs and stolen bases.
The important question is: Does he have a son and is Grandpa Brantley teaching him? If so, get the contract ready.
Too bad he didn’t have about 10 more hits. Could have ended with a .300 career average.
Enjoy retirement Michael!
See you in Cooperstown!
Tickets are $29.99
Class act. Congratulations, Dr. Smooth
I’m here all week.
Made the last out in the 2019 World Series. Nats fans thank Michael from the bottom of their hearts.
Curious. His Baseball Reference page does not credit him with having a World Series ring. Is that because he did not participate in the 2022 postseason? Really good career, with some definitely impressive seasons. 5-time All-Star.