September 4: Now things will be more official shortly. Per another piece from Grant, Andrus will officially retire on as a Ranger Friday, September 6. He will throw out the first pitch prior to that day’s game against the Angels.
August 27: Elvis Andrus has been a free agent since the Diamondbacks released him at the end of Spring Training. While the longtime shortstop has not made any official retirement announcement, it seems he’s prepared to start a new chapter.
Andrus spoke with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News last week about the considerations in all but officially ending his playing career. The 36-year-old told Grant that he’d initially stayed in shape after being released by Arizona in case another team presented him with an MLB opportunity. After a few weeks, he pulled back on those training efforts.
“Being in the big leagues was always a blessing, but the game has changed, players have changed, teammates changed,” Andrus noted. “Everybody is in their early 20s. Everybody I grew up with is out now. The last five years, I’ve seen all the guys that were my closest friends retire. Over the last few years, I found myself thinking: ‘When is it going to be my time?’
“I thought this was going to be a depressing journey, but it’s been amazing,” he added. “I really thought it was going to be harder to be away, but I’ve really been at peace and I’m at peace with the next decision about the next journey.” Andrus also told Grant that his three children have expressed throughout the summer that they’d prefer he stay home rather than continue to pursue playing opportunities.
Assuming this indeed marks the end of Andrus’ playing days, it’s the conclusion of a very good career. Signed by the Braves as an amateur out of Venezuela, Andrus quickly developed into a top prospect. He and Jarrod Saltalamacchia headlined Texas’ return in the 2007 blockbuster that sent Mark Teixeira to Atlanta.
Andrus reached the majors before his 21st birthday. He emerged as the Rangers starting shortstop by ’09, hitting .267 across 145 games. Andrus finished runner-up behind Andrew Bailey in that season’s Rookie of the Year voting. He earned an All-Star nod during his sophomore campaign and was the everyday shortstop on Texas’ consecutive pennant winners between 2010-11. Andrus topped 30 stolen bases in each of his first three MLB seasons. He earned a second All-Star nod with a .286/.349/.378 showing in 2012.
The Rangers committed to Andrus as their franchise shortstop early in the 2013 season. Texas inked him to an eight-year deal with a $120MM guarantee and a pair of opt-out chances. Andrus remained a fixture of the Ranger infield. He played a strong shortstop while hitting for high averages and playing nearly every game. While he was never a huge power threat, he got to 20 homers with a .297/.337/.471 slash and 88 RBI in a 2017 season that was arguably his best.
Andrus appeared in at least 145 games in each of his first nine seasons. He stole at least 20 bags in all of those years. His offensive productivity was a bit up-and-down, but he remained an average or better overall player throughout the 2010s. His numbers dropped off during the shortened 2020 campaign, leading Texas to ship him to the A’s in a contract swap involving Khris Davis that also netted future starting catcher Jonah Heim.
After spending a year and a half in Oakland, Andrus caught on with the White Sox late in the 2022 season. He hit well over 43 games for Chicago down the stretch and returned to the Sox last year. He hit .251/.304/.358 while splitting time between shortstop and second base in what looks to be his final major league action.
Andrus will be best remembered for his 12-year run with the Rangers. He tallied more than 7000 plate appearances, hitting .274/.330/.372 while stealing 305 bases. A regular on five playoff teams for Texas, he eventually logged more than 17,000 innings at shortstop. Andrus checked off a pair of milestones in his final season, surpassing 2000 career hits and 100 home runs. Baseball Reference credited him with 34 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs graded him at 36 WAR.
Grant also chats with Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré, Andrus’ longtime infield mate and close friend, about the shortstop’s impact on the Rangers. Texas fans, in particular, will want to read the Dallas Morning News column in full. Grant suggests the Rangers could enshrine Andrus in the organizational Hall of Fame once he officially announces his retirement. If this is the end of his playing days, MLBTR congratulates him on an excellent career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Not a bad career. Not bad at all. Maybe he can sign a 1 day contract and retire a Ranger.
In all of Major League Baseball history, only 244 players had more career hits than Andrus. He had more hits than all time legends Johnny Bench and Harmon Killebrew. I wouldn’t have thought that. That is a little better than a “not bad” career. I am not saying Andrus should be in the HOF, but it wouldn’t be out of line for him to get 5-15% of the vote and hang on the ballot a few times. He won’t and will likely just get a couple of token votes, but if David Wright and Chase Utley can get significant votes, Andrus should too.
I’d wager that he will be off after the third ballot if that. Great defender but he lacks peak offensive years for voters to consider him. Only two ASG appearances and zero MVP votes. Wright and Utley were far superior players to Andrus.
ASG appearances and MVP votes are usually a reflection of the team you are on. For example, the Yankees, even in their down years, will never have only one All Star. But a player on a smaller fanbase team has to battle many years to be the team’s lone All Star. That is why Jeter was a 14 time All Star even though if you just went by the stats he shouldn’t have made half of those AS teams over superior choices.
Wright and Utley were flashier players and part of more popular teams, but I don’t think they were that much better, if at all.
My opinion is based on how I think today’s voters using their criterias vote. WAR is a big component for them.
I don’t disagree about Jeter.
Wright (49.2 bWAR) had his back issues and Utley (64.5) was a late bloomer and age caught up but they were both on HOF trajectories. I don’t think Andrus (34.2) ever was bc he wasn’t getting enough hits per season while none of his other stats stand out.
Johnny Vander Meer stayed on the ballot for years on the strength of two games. The HOF voting is a joke.
But those two games are still being talked about nearly a century later. Isn’t that fame?
@letit He pitched 13 solid seasons and missed 2 yes of his prime for WWII. Won player of the year once. He also had 3 seasons in top 5 for pitchers WAR and a 4th season in top 10. That’s a bit more than strength of 2 games. Considering he never made it either despite being fairly recognizable seems more indicative of voting not being a joke.
119-121 career. 1,294 strikeouts. Never won 20 games. I’d put him in the Hall of Good. But then again, I’d put Jon Matlack and Milt Pappas in the Hall of Good, too.
I agree with Hall of Good. The point I’m getting at is he was not elected to the HOF. So not seeing how voting keeping a player out that you yourself agree should be kept out is worthy of being a joke. Seems the voting process worked in this case as ge was never elected.
lowe stein: Don’t forget that in the third game after the two no-hitter s Ven der Meer pitched something like 6 no-hit innings. I hope that record is never broken.
I have never understood why people think Fame and Very Good and Good are on the same scale. Hall of Good makes no sense unless the top hall is called the Hall of Excellent. With Hall of Fame. Shouldn’t the next step down be Hall of Memorable or Hall of Noteworthy instead of good?
And BTW, I am not arguing that Johnny Vander Meer should be inducted. I am just saying that fame is fame and the only reason Vander Meer lasted as long as he did is because in the mid 50s the HOF decided that not enough people were getting in so they revamped the voting process. He never got over 30% of the vote and his name being on the ballot never really hurt anyone.
The mid 50s is when a lot of the lesser stat guys from the Golden Era stayed on the ballot for a long time. The Hall realized that the Ted Williamses and Joe DiMaggios were few and far between and if they wanted people to keep visiting the museum, they needed to induct more players in the off years. When you think about it, the whole goal of the HOF is not to create a pantheon of the gods, it is to get people to come pay to go to the museum.
@Hiflew You re sot on about the fame and excellence. Wasn’t best choice to describe what it’s meant to be by definition.
As far as the “Hall of Good” or Pretty Good, it’s just indicative of where they fall compared to excellence.
When the HOF was first created and they only enshrined 6 it could be that they envisioned players like Williams and Dimaggio coming about at same rate going forward. I kind of like how “first ballot ” has become an unofficial defacto Hall within the Hall.
As far as Vander Meer, I was a little surprised at his voting totals. I can’t say with certainty but I’d speculate his peak moments resonated with the far looser ebd of voters. His consecutive no hit innings I’d assume help a bit. Also losing 2 years of prime I’d guess made a few voters much more lenient on career stats. Possible some even just did so out of respect to a war veteran.
This is where I like WAR. I do believe it d leaves a lot to be desired. However for a quick broad assessment of total value, I like WAR. It gives a rough idea of what his talent provided. It can also help extrapolate and give an idea of where he could ve been with those 2 prime years. Which looks to be far from Hall worthy.
I agree with you. I think the 2K+ hits and couple of AS appearances will get him a couple of HOF votes, but I see him dropping off after 2-3 years.
I’m surprised that he didn’t pick up a GG throughout his career.
He won’t even sniff the Hall of Fame, not sure what your smoking…
That’s happening at Fridays game against the Angels, he’s throwing out the first pitch also.
DID I LEAVE THIS!
A very very solid career. Although his apparent indecisiveness is rather odd.
Hard to believe Andrus is only 36. Awesome career. Not many with 2K+ hits and 300+ SBs.
just turned 36 a week ago in fact and was good enough to be a regular as recently as 2022. I’d say he has another year or two in him as a bench piece on a competitive team.
“…Andrus noted. “Everybody is in their early 20s.”
—In fact, only 8 of the 56 guys Andrus played with on the 2023 White Sox were even in the first half of their 20s, let alone their ‘early 20s.’
Always interesting to see a perspective that askew. Wonder what he finds to be a problem about playing on a team the average age of which was 28, and had eighteen players in their 30s.
In addition, he had more than half of a HOF career and was a tremendous fielder in his prime—but no interest now in being a mentor?
Mentoring or coaching is not for everyone. Some people are just quiet and reclusive or some don’t have patience for rolls such as mentoring or coaching.
I’ve never read much on anything that would help me formulate an opinion on him in particular. As a whole though, some individuals just are not interested and some not comfortable in rolls such as that.
We’ll always have the division series against the Jays….that bonehead game remains one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen, and Beltre’s WTF look at Andrus is unforgettable.
And it would have been just another game without Elvis.
The A’s should sign Elvis to a minor league deal so that he can perform in Vegas before he calls it a day.
“A’s should sign Elvis”…Obviously you meant Tx “Rangers” so I corrected it for you. You’re welcome.
Beknighted was making a play on the name “Elvis”…imagine “correcting” someone so incorrectly *facepalm*
There are currently only 10 players still active from Andrus’ rookie year in 2009. There are currently 8 Managers that either played with or against Andrus in their careers. As a player that has to make you feel old
Best ranger shortstop of all Time
3 errors in one inning in a playoff game
There has to be always a special one…
Elvis hasn’t quite left the building, but he does have his coat on.
For Braves fans, he is remembered as being part of the worst trade the Braves made.
I like this title for my headstone too….
“Not officially dead, but not pursuing a comeback”
Good one.
My wife says mine should say “He’s here all week” after listening to 30 years of what she calls my attempts at humor.
I paraphrase Tommy Lee Jones a lot – “My wife has no sense of humor that we are aware of.”
Watching him and Beltre play the left side of the infield like little kids having fun playing a game was always great. Put a perspective on what baseball should be. Also a nice guy to fans. Happy for him and any decision he makes.
Didnt realize he made 2000/100, a quiet, excellent career, durable, had to play with the Burden of Great Expectations. He did well.
I was kind of surprised that he only landed in the mid-30s in WAR (no matter how you measure it). Figured he would be a little higher. Not HOF territory, of course, but somewhere in the 40s. His career dwindled rapidly after 2017, though, so his decline phase was a really, really sharp decline.
Anyway, hope he enjoys retirement. If he is retiring.
Tigers should sign him
The Teixeira trade paid huge dividends for the Rangers. I remember Salty was the big name coming across, but he flamed out with the team pretty quickly. I want to say the Rangers got David Murphy from Boston in return for Salty, and Murphy became a big part of their AL champion teams. Matt Harrison was great for a few years, but he battled major injuries. Neftali Feliz was phenomenal for a couple years out of the bullpen. Elvis though…he was and may still be the best mascot the Rangers ever had. His enthusiasm for the game and his constant positivity were infectious, and I think he embodied the kind of baseball experience the Rangers organization want to put forward.
Elvis has left the field …..
With 137 million in the bag, 10 years service time for a nice pension, and over 2000 hits, I’d say Elvis can retire with a nice MLB career under his belt.
Probably made more than the real Elvis on his career. Not counting estate royalties of course .
Best wishes to Andrus in his endeavors. I’m sure he will wind up being a good coach somewhere if he wants to.
Martin & Lewis. Wayne & Shuster (for my fellow Canadians). Andrus & Beltre. Three great comedic duos.
He had a solid career. They should put commemorate his number on the level of excellence at Rogers Centre.
Things. Official things. More important than those unofficial things, but just as thingy.
His agent worked the phones for one last round and it was unanimous…
Awesome gesture from the Rangers!
You’re turn Reds for Votto.
*Your
I remember as young kid growing up and both Elvis A and Mike Olt were to be a great left side of the Infield for the next 7-8 years.
Over 2,000 hits and 100 HR, nearly 350 SB and 2 All-Star appearances, heck of a career for Elvis Andrus
Solid but not guaranteed chance of Hall of Fame. Flip of a coin level chance, basically. And he could have broken the all time SB record (both single season and career) if he had enough opportunities and wasnt held back so much.
Andrus had a very good career, but I don’t think he has any shot at the Hall of Fame.
50/50 and it would be 100 if the Rangers let him break the all time stolen base record, which he could have easily done.
For a man who led the league in caught stealing twice and was double digit CS 5 times your take on the all time stolen base record is ridiculous. No shade to Andrus just shade to a Rangers homer fan.
This is satire right? If not, wake up. If it, grow up
One of the most underrated MLplayers I saw play. No weakness in prime. Welcome to the Hall of Very Good. Good. luck in the rest of your life. I enjoyed watching you play.
I’m glad I don’t have to hear four different pronunciations of his name by announcers
In the first inning it’s Ondrus
Then it’s Andress
Then it’s Androos
Then it’s Ondroos
Joe Buck was the worst at this.
Be a pro and pronounce his name right
We love you Elvis! You will forever be a part of the Rangers!