Veteran outfielder Kole Calhoun announced his retirement this evening on Instagram. The 36-year-old hangs up his cleats after a 10-plus year run in the majors with four different teams.
“The day has come that I announce my retirement from Major League Baseball,” Calhoun wrote. “I know how extremely lucky I am to even be able to say that. Baseball was always my dream and to make that my reality fills me with gratitude. I have loved this game since I can remember, so making this announcement weighs heavy on my heart. This day comes for all players eventually and I can honestly say that I have given this game everything I have and I walk away with no regrets.” Calhoun goes on to thank his family, coaches, teammates, agents at PSI Sports Management, and the teams and fans for which he played as party of a lengthy statement.
That Calhoun reached the majors at all was far from a lock. The Angels selected him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft. A senior sign out of Arizona State, he entered pro ball without much fanfare as the recipient of a meager $36K signing bonus. The vast majority of players in that demographic never get to the highest level. Calhoun not only reached the big leagues within two years, he earned an everyday spot in the Halos outfield.
Calhoun was a part-time contributor over his first couple seasons. He secured the Opening Day right field job by 2014, a spot he’d hold for six straight years. Calhoun turned in a .272/.325/.450 slash line in his first full big league campaign. He had arguably the best year of his career in ’15, connecting on 26 homers while winning a Gold Glove. His relentless playing style made him an above-average defender for his first handful of seasons. He was also a durable lineup presence, surpassing 530 plate appearances in every year from 2014-19.
A lefty hitter with power, he hit a personal-high 33 homers in 2019. That total was surely aided by that season’s very lively ball, but he reached at least 17 homers in every season of that six-year stretch. Calhoun compiled a .249/.322/.424 batting line over parts of eight seasons as an Angel overall. In his first trip to free agency, he signed a two-year, $16MM deal with the Diamondbacks.
Calhoun went on a power barrage in his first season in Arizona. He popped 16 homers during the shortened schedule, tying for seventh in the majors. That was Calhoun’s last above-average MLB work. His numbers dipped over his final three years, which he split between the Diamondbacks, Rangers and Guardians. He concluded with a 43-game stint in Cleveland late last summer. As he noted in his retirement announcement, that brief run pushed him beyond the rare 10-year service threshold.
In just under 5000 career plate appearances, Calhoun put together a .242/.315/.417 slash. He knocked 179 homers, surpassed 1000 hits and drove in 582 runs. In addition to his Gold Glove, he helped the Angels to a postseason appearance in 2014. Baseball Reference calculates his career earnings just under $50MM. B-Ref and FanGraphs each credited him with around 14-15 wins above replacement, including a trio of solidly above-average seasons between 2014-16. MLBTR congratulates Calhoun on his strong career and wishes him the best in whatever comes next.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
A good career indeed. Best wishes Kole!
Took Kole a while to adjust to the infield shift but he figured it out! With the yellow homer line of today below the out of town score board he would have had at least 5 more per season! Throwing runners out at the plate he was the best on the team including Trout! Was great with the fans and a class act! Kole U will always be an Angel FIRST in my book!
It’s amazing that mediocrity translates to earning $50 million over a career. SMH…
excellent defender in his prime, but you wouldnt know that…
He had cannon of an arm. Loved watching him play.
Describing his career as mediocrity is overly harsh. Calhoun wasn’t a world beater by any means but he averaged out as a solid starter-level player from 2014-2020. That’s far from mediocre.
Better at baseball than most people will be at anything. “Mediocrity” at the major league level is godlike everywhere else.
Brooklyn
The guy had 136 homers over a seven year stretch which included a short season that is 20 pops a year. With a gold glove and career war of 14+, this is not mediocrity. This is a good baseball player! Not a team HOF or all-star but someone who is good. Doing that at the MLB level is impressive to most of us.
Mets would have killed for the medicority basically any year since 2006
The only thing mediocre here is your comment.
Carry, you’re being very generous with your comment labeling the troll as such. But I appreciate your stealing my thunder, sir.
It’s amazing that peak Calhoun would have hit second for the 2023 Mets.
Still about 30 million less than your team is paying Scherzer and Verlander to be elsewhere. Ooops
He has 10 years of service time. Mediocre players don’t last that long. A lot of good players don’t last that long.
Mediocrity, brooklyn6? It’s worth noting that few players make the majors, fewer stick, and even fewer have careers of 10 years or more. From that perspective, Calhoun far surpasses mediocrity.
How many MLB games did you play in, brooklyn62?
Lol…as many as you did MG!
brook – Mediocrity. You clearly never watched Calhoun play ball. His defense was awesome and his arm was a cannon. Here is a highlight video for your viewing pleasure…enjoy. You will understand why he was called the Red Baron.
youtube.com/watch?v=K9QUG11T5MQ
Prov, thanks for sharing that. Some great memories in there.
Big Fly for Kole Calhoun.
He’s a professional athlete who played 10 years at the highest level of his profession. He’s far from mediocre…
Guardians legend.
YES! I really loved his energy last season for us! Glad someone said this. If he wants it, coaching is definitely in the cards for him because he was very much player/coach-like last season.
Damn. RIP
A very durable 1B for several years with the Angels. Solid! Another well above-average career comes to a close.
you may be confusing him with Mark Trumbo or Kendrys Morales.
Yeah, not sure why I said 1B. Good call. But everything else still stands.
He played some 1B last year with Cleveland down the stretch so that’s probably what you were remembering
another sneakily underrated player. That will happen when playing next to Mike Trout. Taylor Ward experiencing the same treatment..
Halo legend, great glove and arm in right!
Congratulation for a great career and retirement!
Loved that bat toss he’d do after hitting a moonshot HR
My favorite bat toss…very subtle yet confident.
He almost does a Reggie Jackson style bat toss and it is wonderful
It was really fun seeing Kole give it his all in RF for the halos. Kind of gave a Darin Erstad feel as he would lay his body out for everything. Congratulations and good luck on your post baseball life Red Baron!
Ten years in the bigs! Congrats, young man and best wishes for what lies ahead!
He hit some absolute bombs in the day
Capital B bombs.
He was only 5’10 but launched baseballs like patriot missles
Best of luck to Kole Calhoun in retirement! Always thought his name sounded like a feared Wild West gunslinger 🙂
Ride into that sunset easy, my friend.
The little guy hit 179 homers. Very Impressive. Always worked hard and was a “will” vs. “skill” guy.
He had an impressive arm too. He could sling that ball fr
KOLE CALHOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!
All this Kole Calhoun love warms my rotten Long Island raised soul
lol
Red Barron, hopefully the Angels retire your jersey…
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kole, but if the halos haven’t retired Salmon’s number, then Kole doesn’t stand a chance
Calhoun never seemed the same after leaving the Angels. Still a solid career with better numbers than many (myself included) probably realized. Congrats and good luck to Kole
You were very good with the Angels and had a great career. Good luck in retirement Kole
That catch he made in 2019 at Fenway in RF was absurd. Full extension.
He made 2 great catches in that first game of the series at Fenway. One off the bat of Xander Bogaerts down the line doing the superman in the dirt and then the one by Betts in deep right center in the very next inning.
Kole always gave his best in an Angels uniform and he was one of the nicest guys to the fans.
Awesome he finished off his career with Positive WAR in his final season. Great career and I hope he enjoys the new chapter of his life. God-speed Kole.
Gangster – locked up ten years of service time and got paid $47,615 per hit to do it! Have a blast in retirement my guy!
Angels Legend!
Got to watch him a lot playing the mariners when he was with the angels, very good career!
Damn, 36. Time flies.
I live 60 miles away from where they play, I don’t know his name. Yikes!
Congratulations Cole on a very solid career. You got to make millions, play with the 2 best players of our generation AND you were doing what you love while it happened. Now you get to do the other thing you Love and spend time with your family and Hit the home runs only parents get to experience while watching your children Hit home runs aswell. From a Bluejays fan i wish you nothing but the best Cole
He always reminded me of the wrestler Haystacks Calhoun, just by name association only.
Kole was a dead set gamer who gave 100% every day, loved the guy.
Damn that was way back when. I was born in the early 80s so he was a little before my time (I didn’t start watching wrestling until the late 80s) but wasn’t that dude like 600lbs?
@CravenMoorehead
That’s him, 600lbs, along the lines of King Kong Bundy 458lbs or Andre the Giant 500lbs. Haystacks wrestled in bare feet.
Remember Loch Ness from WCW lol
A fun player to root for.
I went to a game in Cleveland and he was the first player signing autographs for the fans before the game.
Always. Always. He seemed to love interacting with the fans wherever the Angels were playing.
Just so people know while 50M sounds like alot and it is, most of that came with the Halos were you are taxed around 50% in California. After some quick research he only took home about 26.5M after tax BEFORE he paid his agent. Now were i live in Canada its about 50% aswell but for athletes, actors and a few other select occupations they are taxed slightly different. Im not sure the exact process but essentially a certain amount of there earnings are tax free or taxed much much less. If not no athletes would ever sign unless they were way way iver paid
Players are taxed wherever they play their games. For games against the Rangers and Astros and Rays, Calhoun paid no state income taxes. For games against the Blue Jays he paid whatever the provincial tax is in Ontario. For games against the Yankees he paid both NY State and NYC taxes.
10 years service time means lifetime medical for his family, if he has one and a guaranteed yearly salary that dwarfs most ham and eggers like me.
He had some power. What a great career. I wish him lots of luck.
Full Benefits. He made it. !
Kole made a handful of full on superman diving catches that are among the best catches I have ever seen.
Guy had an absolute cannon too
Congratulations Kole on earning a full pension! Enjoy your kids and your retirement. Thanks for your leadership last season in Cleveland.
Congratulations Kole for achieving your dream and for expressing your appreciation to all the people who helped you reach those dreams.
Well done Red Baron. I hope he enjoys a short retirement before he gets picked up for a coaching job.
Have a happy retirement, Kole!
One word
GAMER
10k per AB. Good work if you can find it.
One of my favorite Angels players! Loved the hard working attitude and fun to watch all aspects of his game. Can’t find the article now, but I remember enjoying reading about how he gave Trout lessons on how to throw hard from the outfield. Cole definitely had the best outfield arm on the Angels during his time there.