Hello they must be going - Retirements in 2015

[Frayed Knot]

A list of guys we WON'T be seeing next season

Josh Beckett announces his right after the Dodgers were eliminated.
Still only 34 y/o but with a hip surgery upcoming that he doesn�t want to rehab from.
14 seasons and 138 wins under his belt. A 2nd & 9th place CY placements, plus a WS MVP

Paul Konerko - 18 seasons, all but two partial ones with the ChiSox. He got a nice sendoff in the season's final week
439 HRs; .279/.354/.486

Admittedly contemplating it but not announced as such: Torii Hunter
Will turn 40 next summer, has several kids in college already. 331 career HRs.279/.334/.465

Plus I heard something about some Yanqui infielder retiring. If only that one had received some publicity I might be able to recall his name.



And I'm sure this list will grow over the winter and then on into the spring as guys find themselves unwillingly retired by being able to find jobs.

[Guest sharpie]

Adam Dunn is dunn.

[seawolf17]

And Bobby Abreu, as already noted elsewhere here.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Plus I heard something about some Yanqui infielder retiring. If only that one had received some publicity I might be able to recall his name.

Roberts?

Later

[G-Fafif]

Kevin Youkillis says goodbye.

[Frayed Knot]

Alfonso Soriano - 38
16 seasons, 412 HRs, 481 2Bs, .270/.319/.500
3rd RoY, 7 ASG, 2 Silver Sluggers, twice top-10 MVP (3rd in 2002 w/MFY; 6th in 2006 w/Nats)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Wouldn't have guessed but Soriano 50th all time in hrs.

[Edgy MD]

I can think of no better way to mark that retirement than you singing that love song to Ambler in your underwear.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: I can think of no better way to mark that retirement than you singing that love song to Ambler in your underwear.

I don;t remember this (?) I do recall Ambler loved the guy.

[Edgy MD]

Wows, it was a home run. Surprised you could forget.

Ambler was arguing the triumphalism of the Yankees' second baseman over that of the Mets, and you came back with, "The day Alfonso Soriano has a full season of .300/.400./.500 while playing Gold Glove defense, I'll sing a love song to Ambler in my underwear in Times Square."

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Oh yeah, that. I thought you referring to a particular song I wrote or something.

[Guest sharpie]

We need a catcher retirement for the all retired team.

1B - Konerko
2B - Roberts
SS - Jeter
3B - Youkilis
LF - Soriano
CF - Hunter (assuming he retires)
RF - Abreu
DH - Dunn
P - Beckett

[Edgy MD]

I was thinking of the All Last Lap Team: Guys with long and prosperous careers who had no association with the Mets but joined them for their last season or less, inexplicably crossing the finish line in a uniform that would never otherwise look familiar on them.

C: Sandy Alomar, Jr.
1B: Jeff Conine
2B: Willie Randolph
3B: Jay Bell??
SS: Larry Bowa
LF: Bobby Abreu
CF: Richie Ashburn
RF: Gary Sheffield

SP: Bob Friend??
SP: Jose Lima??
RP: Mike Marshall
RP: Jose Valverde??

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mickey Lolich has to pitch for that club.

[dinosaur jesus]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mickey Lolich has to pitch for that club.

Except Lolich took a year off and ended up pitching a couple more seasons for the Padres. Must have needed the money.

[Frayed Knot]

Dunn, Konerko, and Soriano make it three 400+ HR guys retiring in the same off-season. Bet that's a first.
Dunn & Konerko played their final game on the same day, Sept 28th (Dunn didn't get into the WC play-in game for Oakland despite it being the only post-season "appearance" of his career). Soriano's last game came on July 5th; the Yanx released him the next day.

[ashie62]

sharpie wrote: We need a catcher retirement for the all retired team. 1B - Konerko 2B - Roberts SS - Jeter 3B - Youkilis LF - Soriano CF - Hunter (assuming he retires) RF - Abreu DH - Dunn P - Beckett

Your catcher is Matt Treanor.

I didn't realize Octavio Dotel retired. He was a star in the grand slam single game.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/retirement/page/2

[seawolf17]

Ashie62 wrote: I didn't realize Octavio Dotel retired. He was a star in the grand slam single game.

That's too bad. I wanted him to keep adding teams to his resume. Retires at "only" 13.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Dunn, Konerko, and Soriano make it three 400+ HR guys retiring in the same off-season. Bet that's a first.

I think I'll take that bet. But... I won't take it when Giambi jumps on board the bye-bye bandwagon and makes it four.

[ashie62]

Jason Giambi has 440. All but for steroids a borderline MVP type.

[Centerfield]

Orel Hershiser makes that team. No?

[G-Fafif]

Centerfield wrote: Orel Hershiser makes that team. No?

Orel went back to L.A. Before retiring.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

dinosaur jesus wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mickey Lolich has to pitch for that club. Except Lolich took a year off and ended up pitching a couple more seasons for the Padres. Must have needed the money.

That fat fuck.

[Frayed Knot]

JJ Putz stays on with the DBacks - but will do so in the front office as a "special assistant" to the team Pres/CEO Derrick Hall. He was with the Snakes in 2014 but hadn't pitched since mid-June.
Wound up pitching 11 seasons in the majors, eight of which were quite good. His three bad ones?: his first season, his last season, and his Mets season.

[seawolf17]

JJ Putz stays on with the DBacks - but will do so in the front office as a "special assistant" to the team Pres/CEO Derrick Hall. He was with the Snakes in 2014 but hadn't pitched since mid-June. Wound up pitching 11 seasons in the majors, eight of which were quite good. His three bad ones?: his first season, his last season, and his Mets season.

I loved that trade so much at the time.

[Edgy MD]

Dunn, Konerko, and Soriano make it three 400+ HR guys retiring in the same off-season. Bet that's a first. I think I'll take that bet. But... I won't take it when Giambi jumps on board the bye-bye bandwagon and makes it four.

Damn, nobody laying their money down.

Finishing Up in 2012
Jim Thome: 612 HR
Chipper Jones: 468 HR
His brother Andruw: 434 HR

[Frayed Knot]

Ichiro Suzuki called to insist that he will NOT be appearing in this thread (oops) as he says he has every intention of playing in 2015.
Of course that's not entirely up to him as, having turned 41 a few weeks ago, even the Yanx have apparently decided that he's too old for them and so he now needs to convince some other team to give him a job.
Ichiro appeared in 143 games in 2014, starting 95 of them. He hit a decent .284 but 86 of his 102 hits were singles and nearly 1/3 of those (26) never left the infield

[Edgy MD]

Itchy is a counter, and no doubt would love to somehow chalk up the final 156 hits to get to 3,000 stateside.

But with who? Colorady? Arizona? Toronto? Would the Padres pay tribute to Tony Gwynn by signing the Tony Gwynn of Japan as their Outfielder Emeritus?

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Itchy is a counter, and no doubt would love to somehow chalk up the final 156 hits to get to 3,000 stateside. But with who? Colorady? Arizona? Toronto? Would the Padres pay tribute to Tony Gwynn by signing the Tony Gwynn of Japan as their Outfielder Emeritus?

He'll almost certainly need two seasons to get those 156 more hits (that's 50% more than he got in 2014) and at this point he's a singles hitter who doesn't run or play defense as well as he used to.
I'm not so sure he'll get a deal for next year much less for two.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Maybe an AL team would want him for the box office draw that the march to 3,000 would be. I think AL because he can DH. Maybe a return to Seattle? What about a dreadful team, like the Astros, who I keep forgetting are in the AL now.