rolling retirees: 2018 and beyond

huh.

P sure Armando Benitez is playing in Mexico still

catcher dan butler, after 768 minor league games

played in seven games for the red sox in 2014 and two more this year, going 5-for-25 with three doubles and throwing out three of eight attempted base stealers. he was never drafted

THANK YOU... pic.twitter.com/CzhaoU9YUH

— Mike Napoli (@MikeNapoli25) December 8, 2018

Only reached 140 games twice--I don't know if he was the most productive long-term part-time hitter of the past couple of decades, but he must be close (including one monster season in 2011: .320/.414/.631, 30 HR and 5.5 WAR in 113 games).

I really wish the Jays had hung onto him after the Wells deal, instead of flipping him for a reliever who’s name time has forgotten.

reliever tom wilhelmsen, officially

outfielder colby rasmus, unofficially

Alfredo Amezaga (who will join Atlanta as a coach)

awesome

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l135&t=p_pbp&pid=150119

Jaime Garcia, 32 years old

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/jaime-garcia-expected-to-retire-from-mlb/c-302541372

you wouldn't know from looking at his stats, but he really did have some exceptional stuff. sometimes it really seemed like he was throwing a wiffle ball out there. alas, he was almost always injured or recovering from an injury.

i just learned that he and Fernando Valenzuela were the only two pitchers born in Mexico to start in a world series.

former red sox third baseman of the future will middlebrooks

Willie Midds was basically a nicer, crappier Shea Hillenbrand

I didn't know Ricky Romero had been out there the past five years, trying to make it back.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-ricky-romero-retirement/

also shawn tolleson -- spent the last two years trying to come back from TJ but decided it wasn't going to work out

Dillon Gee, who spent the 2018 season with the Chunichi Dragons

jarrod saltalamacchia

cc sabathia will retire at the end of the season

doug fister

^his jersey will live on ironically at gay fetish events

?! I hardly knew her!

Bruce Bochy at end of season

Bruce Bochy announces he will retire after the 2019 season pic.twitter.com/TWiBLgL3Oh

— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) February 18, 2019

Ichiro has retired

Jason Hammel has retired

Hammel will always have the 2016 Cubs reunions to come, he had a heck of a season for that club.

punxsutawney native devin mesoraco, apparently

one monster season in 2014 and then just a ton of injuries

Allen Craig will join the Padres' front office as an advisor to baseball ops, thus ending his playing career. In 6 big league season, he batted .276/.333/.435. He won the '11 WS, was an All-Star in '13 and is the only player to score a WS game-winning run on an obstruction call.

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 12, 2019

craig gentry

at 1.1 bWAR in 68 games, he was the third-most-valuable position player who ended 2018 with the orioles

Jake Peavy

james loney

once and future met matt den dekker retired last week

cody decker, 32, hitter of 204 minor league homers, after hitting a walk-off for triple-a reno on friday

he was 0-for-11 in 12 major league plate appearances

also one of 19 players from the 2009 class a fort wayne tincaps to reach the majors, which is maybe some kind of record

troy tulowitzki

finishes with *exactly* the same bWAR as . . . nomar

damn.

that is an amazing factoid, too

Probably my least favourite Blue Jay ever. Spent as much time as a Jay engaging in baseball-related activities as he did playing baseball. And more time complaining.

Our coaching staff just added an All-Star, y’all. Let’s go. https://t.co/1U4WdB42gd 🤘

— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) July 25, 2019

i love the understated headline there by texassports.com

but that's what you get when you leave it up to the editorial team of The Ex-Ass Ports, Inc

ilb twitter fave ty kelly

Now that I don’t play professional baseball anymore, I’d just like all the current players and fans to know that the game was better when I used to play.

— Ty Kelly (@tykelly11) August 25, 2019

pic.twitter.com/czVJztm9iY

— David Freese (@david23freese) October 12, 2019

noted canadian michael saunders, who will take over as manager of the appalachian league's danville braves

utility guy kristopher negrón, after 170 big league games and 1439 in the minors

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/12/steve-pearce-unofficially-retired.html

he ran out of AL East teams to play for

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28342169/14-year-vet-ian-kinsler-retires-one-hit-shy-2000

pour one out for the poor man's Bobby Grich

Whither Warstic?

good player

ryan braun now the active tribe leader in stolen bases

Curtis Granderson

(aka "Craig Gunderson" -- Lou Piniella, 2006)

Granderson was really damned good. He came up around the same time as Grady Sizemore and everyone of course thought Grady was going to be a superstar for 15 more seasons, and Grandy was overlooked for a bit longer than he should have been. Even though despite Sizemore's first several incredible years, the best season either of them had was Granderson's 2007 (38 doubles, 23 triples, 23 HR, 122 runs scored, .913 ops, 7.6 bWAR). Decent positive value through his Mets years, solid defense, and apparently an extremely good dude.

(I mean, except for the 21.60 World Series ERA...)