Retirement

Chad Pinder To Retire

By Mark Polishuk | May 28, 2023 at 3:39pm CDT

TODAY: Pinder went into more detail about his decision, telling Slusser and Matt Kawahara that “there’s been times where I was like, ’Why do I play anymore, what is my purpose of playing?’ Over the last year or so, I couldn’t come up with the answers for it. I’ve always said that once I felt I could give more to the game outside the white lines than between them, that was probably the time. While I still think I can play baseball, I just know for me physically, mentally, for my family, it was time.”

Pinder’s next step is to spend time with his wife and two children, and he is also intending to explore clinical health studies program at grad school. He left the door open to a further career in baseball in some capacity, saying “I’m excited to get on the other side. I want to help other people in their careers. I will gain more from that than I would playing another year or two, whether be in Triple-A or even in the big leagues.”

MAY 27: Veteran utilityman Chad Pinder is playing his final pro game, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter link) that Pinder will retire following tonight’s appearance with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. Pinder is hitting seventh and starting at first base for the Stripes as they face the Durham Bulls.

A second-round pick for the Athletics in the 2013 draft, Pinder spent all of his seven Major League seasons in an A’s uniform, batting .242/.294/.417 (96 wRC+) over 1740 plate appearances from 2016-22. The right-handed hitting Pinder was naturally more productive against lefties than righties, as he had a .778 career OPS against southpaws and a .660 OPS against right-handed pitching. Pinder had only 26 career postseason plate appearances, but he made them count, posting a whopping 1.021 OPS during Oakland’s 2020 playoff run.

Beyond his work at the plate, Pinder was also immensely valuable to the A’s as a Swiss army knife of a utility player. Over his 537 career games in the big leagues, he made appearances as a left fielder (195 games), right fielder (148), second baseman (92), third baseman (55), shortstop (43), center fielder (16), first baseman (six) and even a single appearance on the mound. Pinder’s ability to play anywhere allowed Oakland’s managers and front office some extra flexibility in deciding how to fill out a roster, how to account for injuries, or in deciding on in-game adjustments.

The 2022 season saw Pinder make a career-high 379 PA, as there was plenty of playing time to be had on a rebuilding Athletics team that was almost bereft of veteran players. However, Pinder hit only .235/.263/.385, and had a sub-replacement level -0.1 fWAR. The A’s let Pinder go in free agency, and Atlanta represents Pinder’s third minor league deal of the last five months. The Reds cut Pinder from their minors deal near the end of Spring Training, and a follow-up minor league contract with the Nationals also led to a release in early May.

Cumulatively, Pinder has hit .256/.322/.402 over 90 PA at the Triple-A level this season with the Nats’ and Braves’ top affiliates, but it would appear as though he has decided to hang up his glove rather than wait for another call to the majors. Pinder just turned 31 back in March, but it seems like the next phase of his baseball career might just be starting, as Pinder seems likely to get a wide range of coaching offers. As Slusser writes, Pinder was “always a superb and unselfish team leader. He will be a great manager one day.”

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pinder on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Anibal Sanchez Announces Retirement

By Anthony Franco | May 16, 2023 at 7:53pm CDT

Longtime big league starter Aníbal Sánchez took to Instagram this evening to announce his retirement. The 39-year-old wraps up a career in which he appeared in parts of 16 big league campaigns.

“Throughout these past 17 years in Major League Baseball, God has given me the opportunity to live wonderful moments on and off the field,” Sánchez wrote. “Baseball has been my great passion since I was a child, and I am extremely grateful to have been able to make that dream a reality.” He goes on to thank his teammates, coaches, managers, scouts, franchise owners and agents at Mato Sports Management, as well as his family, friends and the fans who supported him along the way.

“Today begins a new chapter where I hang up the glove and uniform to pursue my other passions,” Sánchez concluded. “I retire as a major league player; however, I will always be close to the sport I love. See you soon.”

Sánchez began his professional career with the Red Sox as an amateur signee out of Venezuela during the 2000-01 international period. Within a few years, he pitched his way to Double-A and rated as one of the top pitching prospects in the Boston system. Over the 2005-06 offseason, the Sox dealt him alongside Hanley Ramírez and two more minor leaguers to the Marlins to bring in ace Josh Beckett.

Florida called him to the majors for the first time the following June. Sánchez hit the ground running as a 22-year-old, tossing 114 1/3 innings of 2.83 ERA ball over his first 18 appearances. He threw a no-hitter in just his 13th career start, completing the feat in a six strikeout outing against the Diamondbacks that September. Sánchez finished that year ninth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Injuries dogged the right-hander over the next few seasons. He didn’t make more than 16 starts in any of the three years between 2007-09. Fortunately, he returned to health for his first full big league campaign in 2010. Sánchez would make 32 starts with a sub-4.00 ERA in both 2010 and ’11. He was on that pace again in 2012, working to a 3.94 ERA over 19 starts as an impending free agent for a noncompetitive Miami team. The Tigers acquired him in a deadline blockbuster, adding Sánchez and second baseman Omar Infante for a package headlined by former first round pick Jacob Turner.

Sánchez was excellent down the stretch to help Detroit to an AL Central title. He pitched three quality starts in as many outings during that year’s postseason, helping the Tigers to a pennant. The Tigers brought him back on a five-year free agent deal with an $80MM guarantee over the offseason.

Detroit was immediately rewarded with the best season of Sánchez’s career. He worked 182 innings of 2.57 ERA ball over 29 starts. He won the AL ERA title and topped the Junior Circuit with a 2.39 FIP. Sánchez finished fourth in Cy Young balloting and helped the club to a repeat division title. The Tigers came up a round short of the World Series that time around, though Sánchez contributed 12 innings of four-run ball during the AL Championship Series.

The veteran hurler turned in another productive showing in 2014, working to a 3.43 ERA in 126 frames on another division-winning Detroit team. His production fell off thereafter, as his ERA jumped each season between 2015-17. He finished his Detroit tenure with a 6.41 season that led them to decline a 2018 club option. Sánchez made an unexpected resurgence upon landing with the Braves on a minor league deal in 2018. He cracked the MLB club and provided Atlanta a 2.83 ERA over 136 2/3 innings to help them to an NL East title.

That rebound earned Sánchez a multi-year contract in his return trip to free agency. He jumped to the Nationals on a two-year, $19MM pact that paid off incredibly in the first season. He made 30 starts with a 3.85 ERA in the regular season. The Nats made the playoffs as a Wild Card club and embarked on a run to the first championship in franchise history. Sánchez was a productive contributor as the #4 starter, highlighted by 7 2/3 scoreless innings to stake Washington to a series lead against the Cardinals in the first game of the NLCS.

Sánchez posted middling numbers during the shortened season and sat out 2021 entirely. He returned last year on another run with a now-rebuilding Washington club, turning in a 4.28 ERA in 14 outings. It was a respectable finish to a lengthy, accomplished run at the highest level.

All told, Sánchez leaves the game with a 4.06 ERA in a little more than 2000 big league innings. He had seven seasons with 100+ innings and fewer than four earned runs per nine. Sánchez won 116 games and struck out a little under 1800 hitters. He chipped in a 2.93 ERA through 61 1/3 postseason innings across three franchises, helping two teams to a pennant and one to a championship. Baseball Reference valued his career around 28 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs pegged him closer to 31 WAR. He banked just over $103MM in earnings.

Congratulations to Sánchez on an excellent career and all the best in his post-playing days.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Grayson Greiner Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | May 8, 2023 at 5:55pm CDT

Catcher Grayson Greiner announced his retirement from professional baseball today, posting a message on Twitter. He then extends profound thanks to his family, friends, agents, teammates, coaches, team staff and fans. “While I’ve given almost my entire life to playing this game, I’m extremely excited for the next chapter of my life,” he says. “I’ll miss you, baseball.”

Greiner’s professional career began when he was selected by the Tigers in the third round of the 2014 draft out of the University of South Carolina, getting a signing bonus of $529.4K at that time. Unusually tall for a catcher at 6’6″, he was nonetheless considered a strong defender in his time as a prospect. He was also considered to have decent pop in his bat but wasn’t expected to be an especially strong bat-to-ball hitter or baserunner. Baseball America had him in the 20-25 range in their lists of top Tiger farmhands on three separate occasions, projecting him to be a solid backup catcher unless his bat surpassed expectations.

He was able to reach the big leagues in 2018, the first of five straight seasons where he made an appearance. He never really carved out a regular role, however, with his 58 games and 224 plate appearances in 2019 being career highs. Over those five years, he got a bit under a full season of work, getting into 139 games and taking 485 trips to the plate. He hit nine home runs but struck out in 32.2% of his plate appearances, producing a batting line of .201/.275/.307.

His time as a Tiger went through 2021, but he was outrighted off their roster after that season. He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks, getting into a couple of games as a COVID substitute but otherwise staying in the minors that year. Returning to free agency in the most recent offseason, he signed a minor league deal with the Twins but didn’t make the club out of camp. He was released and signed another minor league deal, this time with the Rockies. He got into 20 games for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes this year but hit just .186/.269/.286 before deciding it was time to hang up his spikes.

Greiner wasn’t a star, though by making it to the majors he realized a dream that many have but few can turn into reality. He got into 139 big league games, collecting 87 hits, nine homers, 42 runs scored and 46 batted in. MLBTR congratulates him on his career and wishes him the best of luck in whatever’s over the horizon.

Matt Harvey Announces Retirement

By Nick Deeds | May 5, 2023 at 9:23am CDT

Former All-Star right-hander Matt Harvey took to instagram this morning to announce his retirement. “I have to say this is my time to say thank you, and goodbye.” Harvey writes, “To the fans, and most importantly the NY Mets fans: you made a dream come true for me. A dream I could have never thought to come true. Who would have thought a kid from Mystic, CT would be able to play in the greatest city in the world, his hometown. You are forever embedded in my heart.”

The seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft, Harvey was selected by the Mets and made his debut during the 2012 campaign. During that ten start cup of coffee in 2012, Harvey pitched to a sterling 2.73 ERA (140 ERA+) with a 3.30 FIP, but that was just a taste of what was to come, as the following season ended up being the best of Harvey’s career by a wide margin.

In 178 1/3 innings of work in 2013, Harvey posted a phenomenal 2.27 ERA (157 ERA+) with a league-leading 2.01 FIP. He struck out 27.7% of batters he faced that season while walking just 4.5%. That performance not only earned him the lone All-Star appearance of his career, but a top four finish in Cy Young Award voting. Unfortunately, Harvey’s phenomenal year was cut short when he required Tommy John surgery, missing the end of the 2013 campaign and the entirety of 2014 while rehabbing.

He returned to the mound in 2015 with another strong season, posting a 2.71 ERA and 3.05 FIP over 189 1/3 innings of work in the regular season. Harvey went on to pitch for the Mets during the postseason, posting a 3.04 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work as the Mets advanced past the Dodgers and the Cubs to face the Royals in the World Series.

Harvey’s injury woes would return in 2016, however, as Harvey struggled to an uncharacteristic 4.86 ERA in 92 2/3 innings of work before being shut down for the season in July to undergo surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Following the procedure, Harvey was never quite the same pitcher, as he struggled both in terms of results and to stay on the field. He posted a 6.15 ERA in 446 2/3 innings of work following his 2016 surgery.

Designated for assignment by the Mets early in the 2018 season, he would go on to pitch for the Reds, Angels, Royals, and Orioles before serving a 60-game suspension for “participating in the distribution of a prohibited Drug of Abuse in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.” The suspension came after Harvey testified in the trial of former communications director of the Angels Eric Kay, who was convicted of distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of former pitcher Tyler Skaggs. During the trial, Harvey testified that he had provided Skaggs with Percocet pills.

Following his suspension, Harvey returned to the mound in the minor leagues, posting a 3.71 ERA in 70 1/3 innings. Harvey then pitched for Team Italy during the World Baseball Classic this spring, where he posted a 1.29 ERA in seven innings of work over two starts, leaving his baseball career on a high note.

All in all, Harvey ends his career with a 4.42 ERA in 966 1/3 innings with 50 wins and 867 strikeouts. MLBTR wishes Harvey the best as he transitions in whatever comes next following his playing career.

Robinson Chirinos Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | May 3, 2023 at 8:06pm CDT

Veteran catcher Robinson Chirinos announced on Twitter today that he is retiring from professional baseball. “With a happy, yet heavy heart, I am announcing my retirement from professional baseball,” the statement reads. “After much contemplation and reflection, I have decided to close this chapter of my life. It has not been an easy decision, but I feel that it is the right one for me as I have given my heart and soul to this sport over so many years.” He then goes on to thank his family members, teammates, coaches, fans, team staff and many others who he crossed paths with over the years.

Chirinos, now 38 years old, originally signed with the Cubs as an amateur out of Venezuela back in 2000, shortly after his 16th birthday. An infielder at that time, he would toil away in the Cubs’ minor league system for a decade, starting his move to the catcher position in 2008. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster after 2010 but was traded to the Rays a few months later, going alongside Chris Archer and others as the Cubs acquired Matt Garza.

It was in that 2011 season that Chirinos was able to make his major league debut, getting into 20 games, but he had to miss the entire 2012 campaign due to a concussion. He was traded to the Rangers in April of 2013 for a player to be named later and would eventually spend six years with that club. His role was initially limited but gradually grew over time as he provided some pop behind the plate. From 2013 to 2018, he hit 67 home runs in 442 games, slashing .233/.325/.443 during that time for a wRC+ of 104. That coincided with a good stretch for the club as well, as Chirinos was able to get into four postseason games with the Rangers between 2015 and 2016.

He reached free agency for the first time after 2018 and he eventually signed with the Astros for one year and $5.75MM. He had a nice season in Houston, launching 17 home runs and hitting .238/.347/.443 for a wRC+ of 112. He would get into 14 more postseason games that year as the Astros went to the World Series, ultimately falling to the Nationals in seven games.

He would go into journeyman mode for the next few years. He returned to the Rangers for 2020 on a one-year, $6.75MM deal but ultimately hit just .162/.232/.243 in the shortened season, which included a trade to the Mets. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees for 2021 but fractured his wrist after being hit by a pitch in Spring Training. He was released and eventually got into 45 games for the Cubs after returning to health, then got into another 67 contests with the Orioles last year.

All told, it was an unusual career for Chirinos, who seemed to do everything a little later than normal. He didn’t start playing his primary position until his mid-20s, then didn’t make it to the majors until his age-27 season and didn’t really become a regular until he was 30. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference consider his best season by wins above replacement to be 2019, his age-35 campaign.

Despite that delayed trajectory, he still managed to get into 714 major league games and make 2,457 plate appearances. He tallied 480 hits, including 95 home runs, scoring 275 times and driving in 306. MLBTR congratulates Chirinos on a fine career and wishes him the best in the next stages of his life.

Jed Lowrie Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2023 at 11:13am CDT

Former All-Star second baseman Jed Lowrie tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he’s retiring after 15-year Major League career and a professional career that spanned parts of 18 seasons. Lowrie tells Slusser that he’s “gotten to the point where I listen to my body and when I think about playing another 162, I don’t want to do that.” He adds that he’s looking forward to spending time with his young family and is already an assistant coach with his daughter’s softball team.

Now 38 years old, Lowrie was the No. 45 overall draft pick by the Red Sox back in 2005. The Stanford product reached the Majors three years after being drafted, hitting .258/.339/.400 in 81 games as a rookie with the Sox in 2008. He spent parts of four seasons in Boston before being traded to the Astros in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon.

That stop in Houston wound up being for just one year, as the Astros traded Lowrie to the A’s on the heels of a solid .244/.331/.438 showing and netted Brad Peacock, Chris Carter and Max Stassi in that swap. He’d spend the next two seasons in Oakland, performing at a high level (.272/.334/.405) before reaching free agency and signing back with the Astros. In a full deja vu sequence, Lowrie spent one season in Houston and was traded to Oakland a second time — this time in exchange for righty Brendan McCurry.

Lowrie spent the next three seasons in green and gold, culminating with a 2018 All-Star season that saw him club a career-best 23 home runs. That standout campaign helped Oakland secure a postseason berth, though the 2018 A’s fell to the Yankees in the one-game Wild Card format. Lowrie went on to ink an ill-fated two-year deal with the Mets, with whom he was limited to just nine games due to ongoing knee troubles. Lowrie reached free agency and once again signed with the A’s, making good on a minor league deal and reemerging as the team’s regular second baseman. He signed one final deal with Oakland for the 2022 season but was limited to just 50 games.

Overall, Lowrie spent parts of seven seasons in Oakland, four in Boston, two in Houston and two in New York (though he was on the injured list for the bulk of that time). He’ll retire as a career .257/.330/.406 hitter (103 wRC+) with 121 home runs, 292 doubles, 17 triples, 590 runs scored, 594 runs batted in and eight stolen bases. He made an All-Star team and reached the postseason in six of his 15 seasons as a big leaguer.

Given his obvious talent, he’d surely have further padded those totals had he been able to avoid the injured list with more regularity, but health troubles followed him throughout his career. Lowrie most notably was plagued by a torn ligament in his thumb, a capsule tear in his knee and a broken finger in his right hand, amid several other nagging injuries. It’s easy to wonder what might have been with better health, but Lowrie’s career was still valued nearly 20 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, and just shy of 16 WAR per Baseball-Reference. He was regularly an average or better hitter when healthy, peaking with particularly big showings at the plate in 2010, 2013 and 2017-18. All told, he banked more than $60MM in salary over the course of his career and will be remembered particularly fondly for his time in Oakland.

What’s next for Lowrie isn’t clear, but he tells Slusser that he “loves the game too much” to simply ride off into the sunset. Lowrie adds that he has a “deep-rooted obsession with seeing the game continue to evolve, continue to get better, continue to promote participation and see it thrive because it’s the best game in the world.” Best wishes to Lowrie in whatever path he takes in the next step of what sounds like a lifelong baseball journey.

Ryan Lavarnway Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | March 22, 2023 at 3:46pm CDT

Ryan Lavarnway will be chatting with MLBTR readers tomorrow at 10am Central. Click here to ask questions in advance or join in the chat when it’s in progress!

Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors and 15 seasons in pro ball overall, announced his retirement on Wednesday in a thoughtful and poignant piece at The Athletic. Fans of any team are encouraged to read through Lavarnway’s piece, which deftly details the trials and tribulations of a prototypical journeyman who overcame a self-admitted lack of athleticism in large part due to a “sixth tool” — being “really, really good at not quitting.”

Lavarnway, 35, was a sixth-round pick by the Red Sox in 2008 and was twice named the organization’s minor league offensive player of the year. He’s twice suited up for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and played 25 games with the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox.

Lavarnway never cemented himself as a regular in the big leagues despite hitting his way into being a prospect of some note with the Sox. The well-traveled backstop writes that he wore 18 different uniforms over his career and was optioned, traded, claimed on waivers or released a combined 26 times throughout his career. Along the way, he appeared for the Red Sox, Pirates, Braves, Athletics, Marlins, Reds, Indians and Orioles.

While he never topped 46 big league games or 166 big league plate appearances in a season, Lavarnway saw a total of 165 MLB games and 486 trips to the plate, during which he batted .217/.272/.345 with nine homers. He wound up accruing more than three years of Major League service time throughout his many MLB stints. Lavarnway also spent parts of 11 seasons in Triple-A, where he was a combined .267/.360/.432 hitter with 79 more homers in 2580 plate appearances. Best wishes to Lavarnway in whatever next step he pursues.

Jordan Yamamoto Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | March 13, 2023 at 3:00pm CDT

Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto took to Twitter today to announce his retirement. “I have decided to walk away from the game I love,” his post reads. “It’s definitely bittersweet. As I sit on my flight back home, there are so many emotions I’m feeling but none is regret. This has been an amazing journey and nothing short of unbelievable. A little kid from Hawaii with a dream. A dream to play in the MLB. If you would have told me at 10 years old that I would go on to be a big league pitcher and hold a franchise record, I would have never believed you. It is crazy and only right that I end my career the same way it started. On a back field game in Arizona. It’s poetry if you ask me.” He then goes on to thank all of the many people who have been a part of his journey, including his family, agents, teammates, coaches, staff members and fans.

Yamamoto, who turns 27 in May, was a 12th round draft pick of the Brewers in 2014. Despite that modest draft stock, he impressed in his first professional seasons, including a 2017 season where he posted a 2.51 ERA in 111 innings at Class-A Advanced. That performance was strong enough to get the attention of the Marlins, as Yamamoto was one of four players they acquired in the trade that sent Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.

Things continued to go well for Yamamoto in 2018, despite a few trips to the injured list. He made 13 starts with a 1.83 ERA at three different levels, finishing the year in Double-A. He then made another six starts in the Arizona Fall League with a 2.08 ERA in that time. The Marlins added him to their 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft and Baseball America ranked him as the club’s #18 prospect going into 2019.

He was able to make his major league debut in 2019, making 15 starts with a 4.46 ERA, as well as 12 more Double-A starts with a 3.58 ERA. He seemed to be part of a wave of young rotation talent in Miami, alongside guys like Sandy Alcantara, Pablo López and others. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t continue on that trajectory in the seasons to come, largely due to injury. Yamamoto landed on the injured list late in 2019 and had diminished velocity in 2020, getting tattooed for an ERA of 18.26 in 11 1/3 innings that year.

Prior to the 2021 campaign, the Marlins designated him for assignment and then flipped him to the Mets. That would go on to be another frustrating season for Yamamoto, as he spent the beginning of the year being shuttled between Triple-A and the majors before a shoulder injury sent him to the IL from May until September. He was designated for assignment in April of 2022 and cleared waivers, sticking with the Mets but without a roster spot. He made 24 appearances in the minors last year with an ERA of 6.00. He reached free agency at season’s end and signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in January but was recently reassigned to minor league camp.

Yamamoto has now decided it’s time to hang up his cleats and start the next phase of his life. He appeared in 21 major league games, tossing 96 2/3 innings in that time with a 6.05 ERA. He struck out 98 batters and earned five wins. The franchise record that he referenced in his statement was that he started his career with 14 scoreless frames for the Marlins. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Yamamoto on achieving his dream of making it to the majors and wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

AL West Notes: Athletics, Bleday, Munoz, Trammell, deGrom, Eovaldi, Schroeder

By Mark Polishuk | March 12, 2023 at 10:05pm CDT

The Athletics announced several cuts to their Spring Training roster today, and outfielder JJ Bleday was one of the players optioned to Triple-A. Bleday had been competing with Cristian Pache and Esteury Ruiz for the center field job, and manager Mark Kotsay told reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara) that “it’s not an easy decision” in picking between the trio since the A’s eventually want to see what all of them can do at the big league level. All of Pache, Ruiz, and Bleday will “impact this club at some point” in 2023, Kotsay said, but in determining the Opening Day roster “there’s going to be factors that go into it…not just performance but roster construction, depth at the position.”

Kotsay also noted that Pache might have an advantage since he is out of minor league options, whereas Ruiz and Bleday both have options remaining. Bleday and Ruiz each joined the A’s this offseason, as Bleday was acquired from the Marlins for A.J. Puk last month, and Ruiz came to Oakland as part of the big three-team, nine-player swap with the Brewers and Braves that saw Sean Murphy land in Atlanta. Pache, meanwhile, was part of last March’s blockbuster deal with Atlanta, as Pache was one of four players the A’s acquired in exchange for Matt Olson. Earlier this month, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about the many outfielders vying for playing time for Oakland this season, beyond just the center field situation.

Mitch Moreland Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | March 8, 2023 at 10:29am CDT

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.

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