PURE FAREWELLS: There are more than 10 retired in MLB since the World Series

By Juan Paez

Since the World Series ended, a long, dramatic pause began, but above all, full of farewells. So far, while we wait for the lockout that has Major League Baseball on tenterhooks to be lifted, more than a dozen players have announced their retirement from active baseball. Such a list made by Full Swing it doesn’t include Chris Davis and Ryan Braun, who hung up their spikes between August and September.

Buster Posey He was the one who raised the curtain. Whoever became the face of the San Francisco Giants announced his retirement as soon as the 2021 Major League season ended. After 12 seasons in the Majors and earning, according to Baseball-Reference, around 150 million dollars in contracts, the catcher decided to walk away from the field at just 34 years of age.

What Posey started in early November carried through to this week, but let’s stick to the chronology. Just days later, left-handed reliever Brett Cecil stopped looking for a job in the best baseball in the world to formally retire. Cecil last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2018, with the St. Louis Cardinals, and in total he was a major leaguer for 10 seasons.

Nearly two weeks after Cecil, another bullpen pitcher followed: Wade Davis. The right-hander was one of the best relievers in the game between 2014 and 2018, a period in which he was part of the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies. Davis, 36, has not been the same since the 2019 harvest.

Versatile infield utility Andrew Romine also hung up the spikes, as did slugger Kyle Seager. The most surprising case of these two was that of Seager, who is 34 years old and finished 2021 with 35 home runs and 101 RBI with the Seattle Mariners. Instead of signing another lucrative contract, he decided to walk away from the diamond.

After Romine and Seager came the retirement of outfielder Cameron Maybin, at 34 years of age. Maybin took just 28 at-bats for the New York Mets in 2021 and hit .036/.182/.036. The speedy man says goodbye to active baseball after 15 seasons and seeing action with 10 teams. He was joined by another pair of outfielders: Travis Snider and Melky Cabrera.

Less than two weeks ago, Francisco Liriano also announced his retirement after two years without pitching in the Majors. Finally, utility man Gordon Beckham, who retired with a lifetime OPS of just .667, said goodbye to the field with a very funny message: “Since my good friend Buster Posey decided to retire this year, I also announce my retirement. I want to make sure we get into the Hall of Fame the same year. Let the countdown begin,” he said on his Twitter account (@gordonbeckham).

The list probably doesn’t end with Beckham. In free agency, there are a fair number of players who might not find jobs before the next Major League and Minor League season begins. For now, the curtain closes on Beckham’s retirement, but time will tell.