Former Gold Glove outfielder Josh Reddick has decided to retire from Major League Baseball. The veteran told Mark Berman of Fox 26 and other reporters that he will stop pursuing a MLB career (Twitter link). Reddick announced in May he’d play for the Perth Heat during the 2022-23 Australian Baseball League season that starts in November. After that wraps up, he says, “that’ll be it for me.”
Originally picked by Boston in the 17th round of the 2006 draft, Reddick made his debut for the Red Sox in the July of 2009. He bounced between Boston and Triple-A Pawtucket before being traded to the Oakland A’s during the 2011-12 offseason. Reddick got his first opportunity to start on a MLB roster in 2012 and ran with it, posting a career high 32 home runs and 85 RBIs, earning a Gold Glove, and picking up a few MVP votes to go with it.
Reddick played three more full seasons for Oakland during which he accumulated a .747 OPS over 372 games. At the 2016 trade deadline, he and Rich Hill were flipped to the Dodgers in exchange for a package that included Frankie Montas, where he helped Los Angeles advance to the NLCS. The next offseason, Reddick reached free agency and signed a four-year deal with the Astros worth $52MM, where he made an immediate impact. He slashed .314/.363/.484 in his first season with the Astros, playing a huge role in Houston’s 2017 championship run.
Reddick spent three more full seasons with the Astros before joining the Diamondbacks on a one-year deal for 2021. After Arizona released him in early August, he spent three weeks at the Mets’ Triple-A Syracuse before being released.
In February of 2021, Reddick took his career to Mexico and spent a summer with the Acereros de Monclova, with whom he hit .293 in 28 games. Today, Reddick was on hand for Game 1 of the ALCS in Houston, where he told reporters he was “frustrated, upset” because he feels like he has “plenty of talent to be out there playing (in the majors).” He continued on to say that his time with the Acereros was his last attempt at returning to MLB. Reddick will be one of the biggest names to ever play in the ABL, where he’ll join a Heat team that includes two former MLB pitchers in Zac Reininger and Warwick Saupold.
In over 4879 Major League plate appearances across parts of thirteen big league seasons, Reddick slashed .262/.321/.426. He accumulated 24.7 bWAR, hit 146 home runs, drove in 575 and scored 597 times. He banked north of $66MM in career earnings, according to Baseball Reference. MLBTR congratulates Reddick on his lengthy, successful career and wishes him all the best in his retirement.
Credit : Source link
