2:16pm: Ethier calls the retirement report “totally untrue” and says he’s preparing to play in 2018, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets.
1:08pm: Former Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier has told family and friends that he is retiring, Robert Murray of FanRag reports. The 35-year-old Ethier had been on the open market since Nov. 5, when the Dodgers declined his $17.5MM option for 2018 in favor of a $2.5MM buyout.
Ethier turned pro when the Athletics used a second-round pick on him in the 2003 draft, but he never cracked the majors with the A’s. Rather, he spent his entire big league career with the Dodgers, who acquired him in exchange for outfielder Milton Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez in 2005. Ethier debuted in Los Angeles in 2006 and immediately became a staple of the team’s offense, slashing .308/.365/.477 in 441 plate appearances to finish fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.
While Ethier took a step back during his second season, he rebounded in 2008, the beginning of a six-year stretch defined by both terrific offensive production and durability. Ethier appeared in between 135 and 160 games in each of those seasons and combined to bat .286/.363/.471 with 117 home runs and 16.6 fWAR in 3,588 PAs. The sweet-swinging lefty earned two All-Star appearances (2010-11), a Silver Slugger (2009) and a Gold Glove (2011) during that period, in which the Dodgers clinched three playoff trips.
Ethier did enough over his first several seasons for LA to award him a five-year, $85MM contract extension in June 2012, though the deal didn’t work out as hoped. While the Dodgers won the National League West in each of Ethier’s final five seasons and took home the NL pennant in 2017, he wasn’t a consistent contributor over the life of the contract, in part because of injuries. Ethier totaled a mere 26 PAs in 2016 after suffering a broken leg in spring training and racked up just 38 trips to the plate in his final season as he dealt with back problems. He did participate in the Dodgers’ run to the World Series, though, with four hits and two walks in 15 PAs. In what will go down as the last at-bat of his career, Ethier knocked in the Dodgers’ only run of their Game 7 World Series loss to Houston with a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning.
A lifetime .285/.359/.463 hitter who amassed 162 homers, Ethier stands as one of the most productive offensive players in the Dodgers’ storied history. He ranks in the franchise’s top 20 in games, PAs, at-bats, homers, hits, extra-base hits, total bases, walks and runs batted in.
Either will walk away from the sport having earned upward of $112.6MM as a Dodger, per Baseball-Reference. MLBTR congratulates Ethier on a terrific career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Not surprising
Saw it coming. He was pretty good just a few years ago then the injury bug hit him. Good luck in retirement.
My favorite Dodger of all time.
Wow. Thank you Dre for all the clutch hits back in the day day. No one else but Dodger blue!
Happy Retirement Ethier
Nevermind… welcome back
Always will be one of my favorites. This guy had a smooth swing in his prime with the Dodgers. Sucks he couldn’t stay healthy because even though his power disappeared he was still a good contract hitter but just couldn’t stay healthy. Good luck to you, Andre, with whatever you plan on doing in the future.
It’s called Juice!!
IKR…Apple, Orange, Cranberry, V8, and those are just a few of my favorites. What are some of yours??!!
jbaker…hahaha that was a good one, got a good laugh out of that one. I’d have to say V8 and Cranberry are mine lol
Always gotta be at least one talking crap on here. Get lost.
Then you explain everyday plyr- part time help/INJ’s and offensive #’s to limited productivity in a V/short period Einstein!
Stupid comment, Gret1wq.
The exact opposite pattern, with sustained production well into one’s 30s and significantly fewer games lost to injury would be a better indicator of PED usage (see Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro, etc.).
It’s called decline. It happens to literally every player in their 30s, especially if they have a bad injury.
So you pick three of the Best and call it an exact opposite pattern, at least decline has some validity!
I said the exact opposite pattern “would be a better indicator,” which is to say *better* than the very typical pattern of decline that you described.
Not sure why you’d question the validity of my statement but hey, to each his own.
Get lost agentz. No one wamts to read your opinion, which is more obtuse than a Joe Morgan comment!
Always felt like he came up big against the Gmen. Enjoy retirement Andre
Andre Ethier is and will forever be my favorite player of all time. So much respect for the guy and the hard work he put in. Happy retirement Cpt. Clutch! Going to miss seeing you play :/.
Hopefully he is remembered for his peak rather than the past couple of years. He really was a good player.
Hail and farewell, Andre. I can console myself with having witnessed the last hit and RBI of his career.
Played an entire high-quality Major League career with one team. Cool.
Always liked Ethier.
Would’ve loved to have seen him as a DH. Great hitter. Good luck.
Seemed like every winter he was being traded some where but managed to stay with the Dodgers.
I’m not a dodger fan but I’ve always respected his game. helluva career. good luck
quality player and person; Dodgers need to find a spot in the organization for Ethier, perhaps player development.
❤I Agree ❤
87.5m for 5 seasons, including the buyout. Years 2, 4 and 5 worth nothing. 6 WAR total. When will teams learn that long time contracts for players over 30 is a fools errand?
Live by the sword, die (or limp with a few injuries ) by the sword. It’s a free and competitive market. Would rather teams take these chances than pocket mega profits. Rather than go into an in-depth Economics 101, without the advantage that hindsight is, Andre may very well have left money on the table with other teams. Dodgers do that deal without regret.
Would be good if the contracts were only partially guaranteed so that the teams could cut bait on unproductive players on big deals then reinvest that money on a big contract for a new player. That way fewer good players would see underwhelming contracts in free agency and teams would still be spending rather than strictly pocketing profits.
Still not as bad as Matt Cains WAR over his deal
One of my favorite all-time Dodgers. Great way to go out on, driving in a run for the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series. Walk out into the sunset, Dre.
So now he isn’t retiring. Can’t the rumor mill make up its mind?
Just think 11 years ago Ethier was traded for Milton Bradley. I thought for sure the Dodgers would’ve traded Ethier after they got Puig.
Thanks for the awesome (although entirely inaccurate) retirement report Robert Murray of FanRag!
Lol good to have you back Dre
Might still qualify as an “upgrade” in the Giants outfield.
Andre Ethier I’ll follow you anywhere
I’ve been very fortunate to see you play
In Dodger Stadium in 2009, 2010, 2011
Always sitting in Right, or Left field, And of coarse all the televised games
Your an Awesome, and Talented Power House Slugger, and Excellent All Around Player. I’m shoo Happy your playing in 2018 Yay Woo Hoo! God Bless For a Happy, and Healthy Year 2018.
Your Number One Fan.
This is Stan.
PS we should be together too.
Hey Lulo-if he lowers his salary demands he can play for the Mets, who love cheap contracts. Plus they need to have someone to play left around 60 games in preparation for Cespedes’ time off which is inevitable.
❤
2018 Yay Woo Hoo! God Bless For a Happy, and Healthy Year 2018.
I’m Your Number One Fan.
Fine journalism FanRag
I totally see him in Seattle next year.
Be sure to save a draft of this article and you’ll have most of the work done for when he retires for real
good point
WOW… that has to be humiliating putting up the wrong report! Whatever “FanRag” is, it might be time to put them on the MLBTR blacklist for printing the wrong info.
Let’s take our time to fully verify all sources (preferably second or third confirmations) before rushing to put up articles.
This isn’t TMZ where you have to be the first one to have the (in this case) “gossip” up before other sites.
I’d rather be the last website to announce the correct info than the first website to announce the wrong info.
i for one would rather have the info right away knowing theres a chance it’s wrong instead of waiting for it to be triple checked.
Can you ever trust anything that FanRag reports?
So it’s going to be interesting to see how he evaluates himself. It was clear towards the backend of dodger career he saw himself as an everyday player, even though he was clearly a platoon guy. Then the injuries hit. Most dodger fans genuinely liked him, but in all honesty the extension was more of a good will gesture to appease the fan base. He’d probably be a buy low gamble for an AL team as a platoon DH/sometime LF. Have to wonder though, how much is he really intending to play depending on the salary.
That was a relatively short retirement…
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The comment system is totally fouled up. Not the first time.