White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor announced his retirement to members of the media today, ahead of the Sox facing the Nationals in Washington, a place he played for many years. “To be able to play my last games of my career here in this ballpark in front of these fans, it’s just the icing on the cake,” Taylor said, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. He is in the lineup for the Sox today, playing center field and batting ninth, in what will be his final game.
Taylor, now 34, was a sixth-round pick of the Nationals back in 2009. He was a shortstop at that time, considered to be raw, but in possession of some elite tools. He was moved to the outfield and quickly showed the potential to be a strong defender. He also showed more pop with the bat as he climbed the ladder, hitting 23 homers in the minors in 2014.
Going into 2015, he was considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the game. Baseball America gave him the #32 spot, MLB Pipeline had him at #42, Baseball Prospectus at #57 and ESPN at #71. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish, putting him at #133 on their top 200 list.
Taylor had already made a brief major league debut in 2014 but got more properly established in 2015. He got into 138 games for the Nats, popping 14 homers and stealing 16 bags, but his overall value was held back by subpar walk and strikeout rates of 6.8% and 30.9%. Over his career, he would have his ups and downs, but his contributions mostly took that shape. He could put the ball over the fence, track it down with his glove and swipe some bags, but the plate discipline was never good.
Despite his flaws, he was a useful player for the Nats during their best stretch in Washington. The club finished above .500 in each season from 2012 to 2019, making the playoffs in five of those eight seasons. Those clubs featured stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and others, but Taylor often played a solid supporting role.
In 2019, Taylor spent a decent chunk of the year in the minors, only getting into 53 big league games with one home run. But he took on a more prominent role at just the right time. As the Nats made a miracle charge through the postseason, Taylor got into eight of the club’s playoff contests. He clinched the NLDS over the Dodgers with a diving catch, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He also slashed .333/.391/.619 in his 23 plate appearances as the Nats eventually went on to win the World Series.
In the shortened 2020 season, Taylor had a rough showing, slashing .196/.253/.424. At the end of that campaign, the Nats put him on waivers and he elected free agency after clearing. That led to a one-year, $1.75MM deal with the Royals for 2021. He bounced back somewhat that year with a .244/.297/.356 line and 14 stolen bases. As the season was winding down, the Royals didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a two-year, $9MM extension for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
He had a somewhat similar campaign in the first year of that extension but the Royals flipped him to the Twins for 2023. He hit a career-high 21 home runs for Minnesota that year but also struck out at a 33.5% rate, leading to a .220/.278/.442 batting line.
That was a relatively strong campaign for him but he remained unsigned into mid-March of 2024, when he settled for a one-year, $4MM deal with the Pirates. His year in Pittsburgh turned out to be fairly forgettable, as he hit just five home runs and put up a .193/.253/.290 line. He then secured a one-year, $1.95MM deal to join the rebuilding White Sox this year. With one game remaining, he is currently sporting a .199/.256/.366 line.
Taylor currently has 1,215 games played with 3,797 plate appearances, with one more contest to go. He has 806 hits, including 109 home runs. He has drawn walks at a 6.9% clip and struck out 30.7% of the time, producing a .232/.287/.379 batting line. He stole 128 bases. He was credited with 90 Defensive Runs Saved and 61 Outs Above Average in his career as an outfielder. For the 2014-2025 period, that DRS total was sixth among outfielders and his OAA tally was eighth. FanGraphs credited him with 10.2 wins above replacement. Baseball Reference gave him 12.6 WAR and pegs his career earnings above $27MM.
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Taylor on a solid career and wish him the best in whatever comes next. He tells Golden that he plans to spend more time with his kids but would consider a coaching role in the future.
Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke, Steve Mitchell, Imagn Images
Nice little career, congratulations too him.
It was. Got his 10 year retirement package. Lot longer than a lot of ball players.
I’m sure some people will give him an A for his career.
“It was. Got his 10 yr retirement package”…I assumed you were referring to 10 yrs service time and a full pension?
I had actually been hoping Michael Taylor would reach 10 yrs for a couple of years now.
“Baseball reference” shows just a tad over 9 yrs of service time for Michael Taylor.
Where are you getting 10 yrs? I didn’t see it in the above story or online.
From bb reference. I quick counted . My math might not be math’n but it looks close plus he accumulated quite the sum just on salary.
baseball-reference.com/players/t/taylomi02.shtml
Baseball reference tells you the service time. I don’t usually count anything. The link you sent says 9.129 service years.
Yrs played in MLB don’t necessarily equate to a full service year using MLB math.
Are you saying that the B.R numbers are not current or updated thru this year?
No, they’re updated to 28th this month. In BBR it reads 8 years in the NL and 4 in the AL so I just assumed he got his tenure ? however the package I was referring to was the nearly 28 mill he made.
The BR service time was as of January 2025
Once a top prospect. Was an elite fielder who couldn’t hit enough to become a regular. Nonetheless a decent career.
As bad a hitter as he was, he was much better in the postseason.
12 years $27 mill being a plus CF’er and well below average hitter. Not to shabby.
Isn’t that the truth. That’s some serious money. Not too shabby at all.
I agree. Not two shabby.
Love seeing guys like this succeed in such a way. No one should ever criticize any player for making longevity out of any professional sports career when they have noted deficiencies (in this case, batting). People that argue that’s not generational wealth by today’s standards think digital IDs are cool, too
A hitter a fielder and a major league ballplayer. Not tow shabbah rank
He probably would’ve had interest in the off-season but good for him if it’s what he wants.
World Series champion Michael A. Taylor
Probably remembered as a Nat first and foremost but best seasons were 2021-2022 in Kansas City as a Royal where he was a borderline great starter with elite defense and average offense.
Seemed like a great teammate, good for him.
12 years….30 mil
He got his 10 years service time earlier this year
Pretty good career, hope he enjoys retirement. He seemed like a pretty cool dude too.
He could spin a good yarn. Adept at needlepoint. And had a hearty appetite for life. Will be remembered plus plus
Pretty nice bit of luck that he gets to end his career against his original team where he played, in an interleague game no less.
Pretty damn good career, all things considered. He won a ring, played alongside some great players, played for a long time, and got to go out on his terms.
Congratulations on your retirement. It’s not easy to stick in the bigs that long.
Heck, I even know from experience it’s not easy sticking in the minors a long time either.
Grats on the career!
They didn’t need it to win the game, and they subsequently imploded in the elimination game the way those Nats teams always did, but Taylor’s grand slam in the 2017 NLDS to give the team insurance after Strasburg’s heroics needs a mention in any MAT retrospective.
Absolutely. He’s a big fan favorite for just that reason.
Nationals legend. Thanks for everything, Michael.
World Series champ, gold glove winner…accomplished career to say the least. Hope he enjoys retirement!
Note the self awareness. You don’t see this from a lot of guys. Batting 9th for the worst AL team. He knows he’s a AAA guy from here on out, at best. Well done, MAT.
I don’t think it’s about being a “AAA guy” but i think being a journeyman at this point is rough, especially if he has a family. He made money, got the 10 year pension, won a World Series ring, not much else for him to accomplish at this point. Good for him for walking away on his own accord
Great guy a role model for kids today. Truly a class act.
The Sox 100 games out of first place, 60 games from a WC, eliminated from the playoffs in April and they can’t let the guy bat lead off in his last game. Thrash organization from ownership on down.
👎
This guy is still a really good CF. I’ve seen him run down a few balls in person that shocked me.
Good for MAT. He could crush a mistake, but couldn’t take a walk to save his life .
Happy Off Days to our first Shark in Center Field.
The Say A Kid deserves a great retirement IMMO