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Longoria: Not Officially Retired, But Unlikely To Continue Playing

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Evan Longoria suited up for just the third organization of his career in 2023 when he signed with the D-backs and helped the club make an improbable run to the World Series. He hasn’t signed a new contract since then but also hasn’t formally filed any retirement paperwork. The longtime Rays and Giants third baseman, however, told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and others this past weekend that he’s all but officially retired.

“I waited long enough to know that I was done,” Longoria said before detailing some of the physical toll his 16-year playing career took during his final seasons. “…And then, being able to go to the World Series, have the experience that I had, it made it a pretty easy decision for me going into the offseason.”

Longoria did leave the door for one final run ever so slightly cracked. The 38-year-old said it would “depend on what team” called him and their chances of reaching a postseason. He listed both the Rays and D-backs as clubs he’d at least consider if he got the itch to take one more chance at winning a World Series.

“One of the only things I haven’t accomplished is winning a World Series,” said Longoria. “So if you said I would go hit .080 for the rest of the season, but the team would win the World Series, then I’d go do it. But that’s probably about the only thing I’d want to do.”

It’s a candid and broad-reaching interview that fans of Longoria and his former clubs, in particular, will want to check out in full. Some of the many topics touched on include how no Ray has worn his iconic No. 3 since he was traded, the slugger’s thoughts on a potential new stadium for the Rays, his life at home now that he’s been able to focus on being a full-time dad, and his hope to eventually return to the game in some capacity.

If Longoria is indeed done as a player, he’ll wrap up an outstanding career with a .264/.333/.471 batting line. He played in parts of 16 big league seasons, garnering MVP votes in six of them. Longoria made three All-Star teams, was named American League Rookie of the Year, won three Gold Gloves and took home one Silver Slugger Award.

Longoria piled up 1930 hits, including 431 doubles, 26 triples and 342 home runs, tying him with Hall of Famer Ron Santo for 104th on the all-time home run leaderboard. Those 431 doubles currently rank 142nd all-time. The former No. 3 overall pick also scored 1017 runs and knocked in 1159 (the latter ranking 185th all-time). FanGraphs credits Longoria with a hefty 55.2 wins above replacement. Baseball-Reference is even more bullish at 58.6 WAR. He earned more than $150MM in salary over the course of his 16 years in the big leagues. Along the way, he carved out a reputation as an excellent and beloved teammate.

“Longo is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told the AP’s Mark Didtler. “This guy’s a pro’s pro. This guy’s the epitome of what a professional baseball player looks like. Evan Longoria is everything that’s good about our game, and what a wonderful career he had.”

Khris Davis Announces Retirement

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Former Athletics slugger Khris Davis hasn’t played any pro baseball since 2022, and Davis confirmed in an interview with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he has retired from playing at age 36.  Davis does have some interest in returning to the game as a coach, but for now is focusing on his new pursuit as an auto mechanic.

The Brewers drafted Davis in the seventh round of the 2009 draft, and after making his MLB debut in 2013, hit .250/.315/.494 with 60 homers over 1142 plate appearances for Milwaukee during the 2013-15 seasons as their regular left fielder.  Despite these solid numbers, the Brewers’ lack of success in 2015 led newly-hired GM David Stearns to trade Davis as part of a roster retooling, even though Davis was just entering his arbitration-eligible years.  Davis was dealt to Oakland for Jacob Nottingham and Bubba Derby, which kicked off a very memorable run for Davis in the green and gold.

No player in baseball hit more home runs than Davis from 2016-18, as the slugger went yard 133 times.  All told, Davis hit .247/.323/.534 in 1916 PA in those three seasons, which included a Major League-leading 48 homers in 2018.  Jimmie Foxx and Mark McGwire are the only players in Athletics franchise history to hit more than 48 home runs in a single season, and Davis’ career year helped lead the A’s to a wild card berth, and brought the slugger an eighth-place finish in AL MVP voting.

Davis became such a beloved player in Oakland that the A’s signed him to a two-year, $33.5MM contract extension in April 2019, preventing him from hitting free agency following that season.  Remarkably, this is the only extension the Athletics have given to any player within the last decade, and this rare investment by the organization unfortunately didn’t pay off.  Davis struggled through an injury-plagued 2019 campaign and was never the same at the plate, batting .216/.291/.376 in 746 PA during the 2019-21 seasons.

The A’s moved Davis to the Rangers as part of a very memorable five-player trade in February 2021, with Davis’ inclusion in the deal seen as something of a salary offset for Oakland to absorb Elvis Andrus’ larger contract.  In hindsight, that transaction has gone from being “the Elvis Andrus trade” to now being known as “the Jonah Heim trade,” as the Rangers acquired the catcher who has become an All-Star and a key part of their 2023 championship roster.  Davis ended up appearing in only 22 games with Texas before being released, and he rejoined the A’s on a minor league contract and played his final 20 Major League games in an Oakland uniform.  In 2022, Davis continued his playing endeavors by suiting up in the Mexican League and with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes of the independent Atlantic League.

No mention of Davis is complete without noting his steady .247 batting average across the 2015-18 seasons, as he hit that exact number in all four consecutive seasons.  While it would’ve been fitting if Davis had finished his career as a .247 hitter, he didn’t quite hit the mark, as his career slash line ended up at .242/.314/.491.  Davis hit 221 home runs and 590 RBI over his 3804 PA and 980 games with the Brewers, Athletics, and Rangers.

In regards to his new career, Davis told Nightengale that he spent the last year attending the Arizona Automotive Institute to learn the ins and outs of being a mechanic, as a logical extension of his longtime love of cars.  The owner of five vehicles himself, Davis said “I’m going to get a job after the summer and family vacations are over.  I’ll be an entry-level tech doing tires, oils and lubes, everything.  I’d love one day to do tune-ups on street racing cars, customization, restoration, just to be part of a club and go to car shows and just enjoy that scene.”

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Davis on a fine career in baseball, and we wish him all the best in his new endeavors.

Dylan Bundy Retires

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Veteran right-hander Dylan Bundy hasn’t pitched professionally in nearly a year, and in an interview with MASN’s Roch Kubatko this morning revealed that he has retired from baseball. The veteran right-hander pitched in parts of eight seasons in the majors with the Orioles, Angels, and Twins.

Drafted fourth overall by Baltimore out of high school in the 2011 draft, Bundy was long a consensus top prospect in the sport. He flew threw the minor leagues to make his big league debut in September of 2012 at the age of 19, throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings across two appearances in the brief cup of coffee. Unfortunately, injuries would keep him from returning to the big leagues for several years after that. Bundy underwent Tommy John surgery back in 2013, and rehab cost him that whole season as well as the first half of 2014. Bundy then made just eight starts in 2015 due to shoulder issues.

The right-hander finally re-emerged at the big league level in 2016 at the age of 23. He split time between the Orioles’ starting rotation and bullpen throughout his rookie season, pitching to an above-average 4.07 ERA and striking out 21.9% of batters faced. That performance was enough to earn Bundy a rotation spot entering the 2017 season, and he delivered a solid back-of-the-rotation season for the Orioles with a 4.24 ERA and a 4.32 FIP in 169 2/3 innings of work. The highlight of Bundy’s 2017 campaign came on August 29, when he struck out 12 batters in a complete game shutout of the Mariners that saw him surrender just one hit and two walks.

Bundy was the club’s Opening Day starter in 2018 and remained with the Orioles through the end of the 2019 season as a dependable starting pitcher, ultimately posting a roughly league average 4.67 ERA with a 4.75 FIP and 602 strikeouts during his tenure in Baltimore. Bundy’s time with the Orioles came to an end in December of 2019, when he was traded to the Angels in a deal that sent a package of four youngsters to Baltimore, including current Orioles starter Kyle Bradish.

While the 2020 season was cut to just 60 games by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Bundy nonetheless went on to post the best season of his career during the abbreviated season. In 11 starts with the Angels, the righty pitched to a strong 3.29 ERA (138 ERA+) with an excellent 27% strikeout rate in 65 2/3 innings of work. The strong performance earned Bundy a ninth place finish in AL Cy Young award voting that year, and his sterling 2.95 FIP ranked behind only Shane Bieber, Zack Greinke, and Framber Valdez among AL starting pitchers.

The strong performance during the shortened season earned Bundy Opening Day starter honors for the second time in his career, but the righty struggled badly throughout the 2021 campaign and eventually found himself moved to the bullpen in late June. After returning to the swing role in which he started his MLB career, Bundy performed a bit better with a decent. 4.21 ERA in nine appearances (five starts) through the rest of the summer before his season came to a premature end in late August thanks to a shoulder strain.

Bundy went on to pitch for the Twins in 2022 after signing a one-year deal with the club. He made 29 starts for Minnesota, though he struggled to a relatively pedestrian 4.80 ERA and 4.66 FIP as his strikeout rate dipped to just 15.8%. That left Bundy to sign a minor league deal with the Mets during the 2022-23 offseason, though he made just six starts for Triple-A Syracuse before being placed on the injured list in May of that year and eventually being released from the Mets that July.

In his interview with Kubatko, Bundy discussed his decision to step away from the game, noting that “nothing was feeling good” during his stint in the Mets organization last year as he sat just 87-88 with his fastball, which had averaged 91.7 mph throughout his big league career. After departing the Mets last summer, Bundy decided to stay home for the rest of the 2023 season and while he considered returning to pitching during the offseason, he ultimately decided to step away from the game. Kubatko added that Bundy has now begun work as a real estate agent for Ary Land Company in his hometown of Sperry, Oklahoma.

In all, Bundy pitched 910 2/3 innings in 190 appearances across eight big league seasons. He finishes his career with 852 strikeouts, 54 wins, and a 4.74 ERA. We at MLBTR congratulate Bundy on a fine playing career and wish him all the best in retirement.

Beau Taylor Retires, Joins Mariners’ Triple-A Coaching Staff

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Former big league catcher Beau Taylor has retired, and taken a new role as the first base coach of the Mariners’ Triple-A Tacoma affiliate. An earlier version of this post indicated that Taylor had signed a minor league deal with the M’s, but as explained by Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto, Taylor has decided to wrap up his playing career.

Taylor was selected by the A’s in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, but did not make his big league debut with the club until 2018, when he slashed .200/.333/.400 in a seven-game cup of coffee with Oakland. Taylor spent the next two seasons bouncing between the A’s as well as both Toronto and Cleveland as a depth option behind the plate, appearing in just 18 big league games during that time. The catcher’s seven-game stint in Cleveland during the shortened 2020 season represents his most recent big league experience.

Since then, Taylor has spent time in the Reds, A’s, and Orioles organizations at the minor league level, most recently batting a decent .222/.365/.368 in 50 games split between Oakland and Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliates during the 2022 season. Taylor departed affiliated ball last year in favor of signing with the Atlantic League’s High Point Rockers and enjoyed a strong season in indy ball. Beau appeared in 77 games (catching 61) and slashed a strong .291/.386/.453 with nine homers and 16 doubles in 316 trips to the plate.

Stephen Strasburg Officially Retires

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April 7: Strasburg officially announced his retirement in a statement (as relayed by Ghiroli) this morning.

“Today, I am announcing my retirement from the game I love,” the statement reads. “I realized after repeated attempts to return to pitching, injuries no longer allow me to perform at a Major League level… Although I will always wish there were more games to be pitched, I find comfort knowing I left it all out there for the only team I’ve known. My family and I are truly fortunate and blessed to have experienced this baseball journey in the Nation’s Capitol.”

The Nationals also released statements thanking Strasburg from owner Mark Lerner and GM Mike Rizzo.

“No one can dispute the indelible impact he had on our organization,” Lerner said of Strasburg in the statement. “He put us on the map as World Champions and changed the face of our franchise.”

“From his Major League debut in 2010 through leading us to a title as the World Series MVP in 2019, the impact he’s had on our ball club is undeniable. He will go down as one of the best players in Washington Nationals history, and it was my honor to be part of that journey.”

April 6: Right-hander Stephen Strasburg has officially retired, as noted by Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. Neither the Nationals or Strasburg have announced the decision, which was posted on MLB.com’s transactions log this evening. Golden adds that Strasburg will be paid the $105MM left on his seven-year, $345MM deal with the Nationals, though Strasburg has reportedly agreed to defer some of his remaining salary. Golden adds that the specifics of the deferrals are not yet clear, though The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli makes clear that the arrangement does not lower the total value of Strasburg’s deal with the club.

The news concludes a lengthy saga that saw Strasburg’s initial retirement plans, which came to light in August of last year, scuttled by a dispute between the player and team over the remainder of his contract with the club that reportedly arose when the team sought to change the terms of their initial retirement agreement, which would have seen the right-hander be paid in full. Whether or not Strasburg would retire was largely immaterial from a baseball perspective, as the 35-year-old has been shut down from all baseball activity for nearly a year due to nerve damage and thoracic outlet syndrome, which has interfered with the veteran’s ability to perform basic tasks such as opening doors or lifting his young children in recent years.

Those injuries limited Strasburg to just eight starts over the course of his megadeal with Washington, which came on the heels of the righty winning World Series MVP honors in 2019 for his role in bringing home the only championship in franchise history. Strasburg’s heroics in 2019, which saw him pitch to an excellent 3.32 ERA while leading the NL with 209 innings pitched in the regular season before dominating with a 1.98 ERA in 36 1/3 postseason innings that fall, act as a capstone on an illustrious 13-year career that was cut short by injuries.

When he was selected first overall by the Nationals in the 2009 draft, Strasburg was among the most heralded amateur talents in the history of the sport thanks to his work at San Diego State University, where he pitched to a sterling 1.43 ERA and racked up 328 strikeouts over his final two seasons in college. He ascended through the minor leagues quickly to make his big league debut in June of the 2010 season, allowing two runs in seven innings against Pittsburgh while striking out 14 Pirates and flashing a triple-digit fastball.

Unfortunately, the right-hander’s debut season was cut short by Tommy John surgery, though he did manage to make 12 starts where he pitched to a phenomenal 2.91 ERA with an even better 2.08 FIP. From the moment he returned to the mound at the end of the 2011 season, however, Strasburg joined a core of young talent in Washington that also included the likes of Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, and Anthony Rendon. That group led the club to eight consecutive winning seasons from 2012 to 2019 that included five trips to the playoffs, including the aforementioned World Series championship in 2019.

That eight-year stretch saw Strasburg dominate to the tune of a 3.21 ERA and 3.03 FIP in 222 starts at the front of the D.C. rotation while striking out 28.9% of batters faced. Among pitchers with at least 800 innings during that time, Strasburg posted the fourth-best strikeout rate and sixth-best FIP while ranking eleventh in ERA, and 30th in both walk rate and groundball rate. Strasburg’s time at the top of the Nationals rotation culminated in 2019, when he led the Nationals through the playoffs against the Brewers, Dodgers, and Cardinals alongside Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin before the club felled the Astros in seven games to secure the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Following the win, Strasburg opted out of the remainder of his seven-year $175MM deal with Washington in order to test the open market for the first time in his career. The club went over the top to keep their franchise face, signing the then-31-year-old Strasburg to a deal that would take him through his age-37 season. That contract will go down as one of the worst in MLB history, as Strasburg pitched just 31 1/3 innings of 6.98 ERA baseball after it took effect in 2020, while the Nationals found themselves plunged into a lengthy rebuild by the summer of 2021.

While injuries may have derailed Strasburg’s career in his final years, few players ever reach the peaks that the three-time All Star did during his time in the majors. The right-hander enters the record books with a career 3.24 ERA (127 ERA+) and 3.02 FIP in 1,470 innings of work. He struck out 1,723 batters in his career while going 113-62 in 247 career starts in the regular season. He pairs those fantastic career numbers with even better postseason figures, including a 1.46 ERA in 55 1/3 playoff innings and a whopping 32.6% strikeout rate during the postseason. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Strasburg on a phenomenal career and wishes him the best as he officially enters retirement.

Kole Calhoun Announces Retirement

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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.

Mike Zunino Announces Retirement

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Former big league catcher Mike Zunino announced his retirement today, via an Instagram post from his reps at Wasserman Baseball. Hat tip to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Mike Zunino | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports“With profound gratitude, I am announcing my retirement from Major League Baseball after 11 seasons,” Zunino says in the post. “As I reflect on my career, I am appreciative of the support of the baseball community and those who have guided me along the way.” He goes on to thank the Mariners, Rays and Guardians, their fans, the MLBPA, team staff and teammates, as well as his advisors, representatives and family members. “While my time on the field has concluded, my passion for baseball remains as strong as ever, and I eagerly anticipate exploring new avenues to contribute to the sport. I am excited to bring what I have learned in the game to the next generation of MLB players, and to give back to the game that has given so much to me.”

Zunino was a trumpeted prospect over a decade ago. He was selected third overall by the Mariners in the 2012 draft, with only Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton going ahead of him. He secured a $4MM signing bonus and, just a few months later, Baseball America ranked him the #1 Mariners’ prospect and the #17 prospect in all of baseball going into 2013. He started that year at Triple-A but was up in the majors by June. He missed some time due to a broken hand and only got into 52 big league games, hitting just .214/.290/.329 in that time.

He got his first full season in the majors in 2014 and showed some of the mixed results that would go on to be trademarks of his career. One of the positives was his glovework, as he posted eight Defensive Runs Saved that year. FanGraphs also considered his framing to be really strong, one of the top five backstops in the majors for the season. On offense, he launched 22 home runs but also had some less-exciting elements. His batting average was just .199 and his on-base percentage only .254, thanks to a 3.6% walk rate. He was also struck out in 33.2% of his plate appearances. His 87 wRC+ indicates his offense was subpar overall but he nonetheless was considered to be worth 3.8 wins above replacement by FanGraphs, thanks largely to the defense.

Over the next couple of years, his struggles with strikeouts and low batting averages continued and he was optioned to the minors from time to time. He seemed to take a step forward in 2017, when he walked in 9% of his plate appearances and hit 25 home runs. But he still struck out at a 36.8% rate and his results dipped again in 2018.

Going into 2019, he had two years of club control remaining but was traded to the Rays as part of a five-player swap. His first season in Tampa didn’t go especially well, as a quad strain and an oblique strain limited him to just 90 games in which he hit .165/.232/.312. In the shortened 2020 season, he missed time due to another oblique strain and and struck out in 44% of his 84 plate appearances across 28 games.

Despite the offensive struggles, the Rays clearly valued his defense and work with a pitching staff as the club went all the way to the World Series in 2020. Zunino reached free agency after that but the club brought him back via a one-year, $3MM deal with a club option for 2022.

He would be in arguably the best form of his career in 2021. The Rays limited his workload to 109 games but he still managed to launch 33 home runs and make the American League All-Star team. His strikeout rate was still high at 35.2% but he also walked at a 9.1% clip. His .216/.301/.559 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 133 and he tallied 4.5 fWAR. That’s just behind the 4.6 fWAR he produced in 2017, though that was in a larger sample of 124 games.

The club option for 2022 came with a base value of $4MM but had escalators that could push it to $7MM if he got into 100 games, which he did. After that monster campaign, the Rays triggered the $7MM option to keep him around but 2022 turned out to be a frustrating year for him. He hit just .148/195/.304 through 36 before landing on the injured list and requiring surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.

The Guardians took a shot on a bounceback, signing Zunino to a one-year, $6MM deal for 2023. But Zunino struck out in 43.6% of his plate appearances and was hitting .177/.271/.306 when he was released in June. He didn’t sign elsewhere in the final months of the season.

Though he clearly had a lopsided profile, Zunino was incredibly skilled in certain areas. He retires with a .199 batting average and .271 on-base percentage, but he launched 149 home runs and racked up 18.3 fWAR thanks to 46 Defensive Runs Saved. He was often cited for his role as a clubhouse leader and could perhaps parlay that skill into future coaching opportunities. Based on his retirement statement, it sounds like he may pursue that line of work at some point. We at MLBTR salute Zunino on a fine playing career and wish him the best with whatever comes next.

Josh Donaldson Announces Retirement

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Third baseman Josh Donaldson announced his retirement today on The Mayor’s Office (YouTube link). Back in November, he expressed an openness to playing one more year under the right circumstances, but it now seems the Bringer of Rain has decided it’s time to hang up his spikes.

Donaldson, now 38, took a winding path to the major leagues and was a late bloomer, but he nonetheless reached incredible heights as a big leaguer once everything aligned.

While playing third base at Auburn University, he began to learn how to catch. The Cubs then selected him as a catcher with the 48th overall pick in the 2007 draft. In July of 2008, he was traded to the Athletics, one of four players going to Oakland in exchange for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

As he climbed the minor league ladder with his new club, his bat was considered ahead of his glove, an understandable situation given that he was relatively new to catching. He made his major league debut in 2010 but hit just .156/.206/.281 in his first 34 plate appearances.

He was stuck in the minors in 2011 and then spent 2012 being shuttled between the majors and the minors, gradually spending more time at third base over that stretch. His breakout season finally came in 2013, when Donaldson was 27 years old. Now done with catching for good, he got into 158 games for the A’s that year as their everyday third baseman. He hit 24 home runs and drew a walk in 11.4% of his plate appearances, only striking out at a 16.5% rate. His .301/.384/.499 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 147 and he got strong grades for his defense at the hot corner, leading to a tally of 7.3 wins above replacement from FanGraphs and 7.2 from Baseball Reference. He finished fourth in American League MVP voting.

Donaldson followed that up with a similarly excellent season in 2014 and the A’s made the postseason for a third straight year, but made a quick playoff exit all three times. The club decided to undergo a huge roster overhaul that winter, a frequent occurrence for the club and its persistent financial concerns. Going into 2015, the club traded away guys like Brandon Moss, Jeff Samardzija and also flipped Donaldson to the Blue Jays for a four-player package.

His first season in Toronto would eventually prove to be the best of his career. He launched 41 home runs and slashed .297/.371/.568 for a wRC+ of 154. The Jays won the A.L. East that year and Donaldson launched another three home runs in that year’s playoffs as the Jays advanced as far as the ALCS. He was graded as worth 8.7 fWAR and was voted as that year’s A.L. MVP, just ahead of Mike Trout.

He would go onto to have another excellent season for the Jays in 2016, hitting 37 home runs that year as they advanced to the ALCS yet again. He scored the winning run in the ALDS by dashing home from second on a fielder’s choice to secure an extra-inning victory over the Rangers.

But in 2017, injuries started to crop up, which would go on to be a key issue in the rest of his career. He was still excellent that season, slashing .270/.385/.559 while hitting 33 home runs, but was limited to 113 contests due to a calf strain. He and the Jays agreed to a $23MM salary for 2018, his final year of arbitration control. Since the Jays had fallen to fourth place the year prior, there were some trade rumors around Donaldson that winter but he ultimately stayed put.

He spent much of that year on the injured list due to shoulder and calf issues. With the Jays out of contention at the August waiver deadline, he was flipped to Cleveland for Julian Merryweather. Donaldson only played 16 games for Cleveland after that deal as he continued battling his injuries.

He finally reached free agency that winter, but with a limited amount of momentum. Thanks to his late-bloomer trajectory, he was going into his age-33 season and coming off an injury-marred campaign. Alex Anthopoulos, who acquired Donaldson when he was making decisions for the Blue Jays, had become the general manager in Atlanta prior to the 2018 campaign. He gave Donaldson a one-year “prove-it” deal worth $23MM.

Josh DonaldsonDonaldson bounced back tremendously with Atlanta, getting into 155 games, walking in 15.2% of his plate appearances and hitting .259/.379/.521 for a 131 wRC+. He then rejected a qualifying offer from Atlanta and then signed a four-year, $92MM deal with the Twins. Issues with his right calf cropped up again in 2020, as he only played 28 games during that shortened season, but was able to get into 135 contests the year after and launch 26 home runs in the process.

With two years still left on that deal, the Twins flipped him to the Yankees alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt, with Gio Urshela and Gary Sánchez going the other way. Donaldson was healthy enough to get into 132 games in 2022 but his production tailed off. He only hit 15 homers and struck out at a 27.1% clip, leading to a line of .222/.308/.374. He spent much of 2023 on the injured list and was released at the end of August, joining the Brewers for the stretch run before returning to free agency this winter.

It wasn’t a storybook ending but Donaldson nonetheless managed to weave together quite a career. Despite not truly breaking out until the age of 27, he still managed to get into 1,384 games and rack up 1,310 hits. That latter figure includes 287 doubles, 12 triples and 279 home runs. He had matching tallies of 816 runs scored and runs batted in, stealing 40 bases in the process. He received an MVP award, three All-Star selections and two Silver Sluggers. His fiery personality which drove him to succeed also rankled some people around the game, as he often quarrelled with umpires, coaches and fellow players, but that combination of his talent and prickly character will likely lead him to being one of the more memorable players of his era. We at MLBTR salute him on his many accomplishments and wish him the best in whatever comes next.

Brandon Dixon Announces Retirement

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Infielder Brandon Dixon announced his retirement this evening (on X). The 32-year-old appeared in parts of five major league seasons, including each of the last two years as a member of the Padres.

“Officially retired from baseball. I’m so thankful for all the relationships, support, and experiences over the past 10 years,” Dixon wrote. “It’s been a fun journey, from a kid dreaming of the big leagues to getting to play for my hometown team. Thank you to everyone who was part of it.”

Dixon, a right-handed hitter, entered pro ball in 2013 as a third-round pick of the Dodgers. Before he reached the majors, Los Angeles traded him to the Reds as part of the three-team deal that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox. Dixon made his debut with Cincinnati in 2018, appearing in 74 contests as a rookie.

The Tigers grabbed him off waivers the following offseason. Dixon had his best year with Detroit in 2019, hitting .248/.290/.435 over a career-high 420 plate appearances. His 15 home runs rather remarkably led the team. The Tigers nevertheless sent him through outright waivers that winter. He very briefly returned to the majors at the end of 2020 before making the jump to Japan.

Dixon spent a season with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The La Jolla native signed a minor league pact with the Padres upon his return to the affiliated ranks. San Diego called him to the majors at the end of the 2022 campaign and early last year. He hit .204/.240/.323 in 38 games over those two seasons. San Diego ran him through waivers as part of their roster reshuffling at the trade deadline. He finished the year in Triple-A, where he hit .268/.348/.502 through 273 plate appearances.

Over his big league career, Dixon hit .224/.266/.397 with 22 homers and 32 doubles. He spent parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level, where he turned in a robust .286/.349/.518 slash in more than 1100 plate appearances. MLBTR congratulates Dixon on his decade-long run in the professional ranks and wishes him the best in retirement.

Eric Hosmer Retires

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First baseman Eric Hosmer hasn’t been on a major league roster in almost a year and has now decided to hang up his spikes. He tells John Perrotto of Forbes that he has now officially retired and is pivoting into the media sphere.

Hosmer, now 34, was one of many high-profile prospects in the Royals’ system, going back almost a couple of decades. The club leaned into a lengthy period of tanking in the early parts of this century, losing at least 87 games in nine straight seasons from 2004 to 2012. Over that time, they were able to pile up young talent in their farm system thanks to some strong draft picks. The deepest part of the rebuild was 2004 to 2007, with the club losing at least 93 games in each of those campaigns, but also getting a top-three pick in the draft for four straight years.

Those four picks were used on Alex Gordon, Luke Hochevar, Mike Moustakas and Hosmer. Those players combined with other youngsters like Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Pérez and Yordano Ventura to form a promising young core that the club was hoping to use to return to prominence.

Hosmer hit well on his way up the minor league ladder and was considered one of the top 10 prospects in the game going into 2011. He made a strong debut that year and showcased some tendencies that would go on to define his career, namely an ability to avoid strikeouts but also an inability to get under the ball. He didn’t walk much either, so the ball was often in play, with his numbers swaying from year to year depending on whether he was finding holes or not.

He only struck out in 14.6% of his plate appearances in his rookie season, well below that year’s league average of 18.6%. But 49.7% of his balls in play were pounded into the ground, noticeably above the 44.4% league average. Regardless, he still hit 19 home runs and slashed .293/.334/.465 for a wRC+ of 113.

In 2012, he suffered through a sophomore slump, hitting just .232/.304/.359 for a wRC+ of 80. Part of that was batted ball luck, as his BABIP dropped to .255 from .314 the year prior. But his grounder rate also ticked up to 53.6% and he only hit 14 homers. These sorts of oscillations continued into the next few years. In 2013, his batting average was up at .302 and he hit 17 homers, but then those numbers dipped to .270 and just nine long balls in 2014.

Despite the challenges for Hosmer in the latter year, the club’s planned return to contention finally clicked in a big way. The Royals went all the way to the World Series that year, though they ultimate were felled by the Giants in seven games. Hosmer was a big part of that run, as he hit .351/.439/.544 that postseason.

Just about everything went right the next year, despite Hosmer still putting 52% of batted balls into the dirt. He also hit 18 homers and slashed .297/.363/.459 for a wRC+ of 124. The Royals went back to the World Series and finished the job this time, taking down the Mets in five games to hoist their first trophy since 1985.

The club slipped near .500 in the next two seasons as the up-and-down performance continued for Hosmer. His bat dipped closer to league average in 2016, though he rebounded with arguably the best season of his career in 2017. His grounder rate was still very high at 55.6%, but he managed to park the ball over the fence 25 times and slashed .318/.385/.498 for a wRC+ of 135.

That was excellent timing for a career year, as that was his platform season for his first trip into free agency. Despite the inconsistent performance, the Padres took a chance on him, agreeing to an eight-year, $144MM deal. In addition to the offensive questions, his defensive metrics were never strong, in spite of his four Gold Glove awards while with the Royals. But the Padres had been undergoing their own period of insignificance, having just finished the seventh of what would eventually be nine straight losing seasons. The signing of Hosmer, the largest deal in franchise history at the time, was meant to signal an end of the rebuild and a return to relevance.

Unfortunately, the deal quickly went south, as Hosmer’s bat was around league average for most of his time in San Diego. From 2018 through 2021, he hit .264/.323/.415, translating to a wRC+ of 99. He was often the subject of trade rumors in that time, as the Friars looked to get out from under the deal. He was going to be sent to the Nationals as part of the deal that sent Juan Soto to San Diego, but Hosmer had a limited no-trade clause that allowed him to block the deal. That deal went through with Luke Voit taking Hosmer’s place, though Hoz was  flipped to the Red Sox instead, with that club not covered by his clause. The Padres ate the remainder of Hosmer’s contract, apart from the league minimum, and included a couple of prospects in order to get Jay Groome from Boston.

A stint on the injured list due to some back inflammation limited him to just 14 games with the Sox after the deal and they released him in the offseason to clear a path for prospect Triston Casas. The Cubs took a flier on Hosmer, which was essentially a free look since the Padres were still on the hook for his salary. But he hit poorly in 31 games as a Cub last year, producing a batting line of .234/.280/.330, and was released in May. He didn’t latch on elsewhere and has now decided to officially call it a career.

Though there were some ups and downs, Hosmer still has plenty of accolades on his ledger, including four Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger Award, an All-Star appearance and a World Series ring. He also won the World Baseball Classic with Team USA in 2017. He racked up 1,753 hits in his MLB career, including 322 doubles, 20 triples and 198 home runs. He scored 812 runs and drove in 893. Baseball Reference lists his career earnings just under $175MM. We at MLBTR salute Hosmer on a fine career and wish him the best in his next steps.

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