First baseman Yonder Alonso announced his retirement in an Instagram post this afternoon (h/t to reporter Ben Ross). That will bring to an end a career that saw him log big league action in parts of ten seasons.
The seventh overall pick by the Reds in the 2008 draft, Alonso immediately became a top prospect, a status he’d hold each season climbing up the minor-league ladder. While he made his big league debut with the Reds, Alonso became an integral part of the Padres’ return in the Mat Latos blockbuster during the 2011-12 offseason.
Over parts of four seasons as the Friars’ regular first baseman, Alonso posted a .271/.339/.386 slash. San Diego traded him to the Athletics after the 2015 season. After a disappointing 2016 effort, Alonso went to work on revamping his swing as one of the league’s earlier adopters of an air-oriented approach. The swing change came together as hoped, with Alonso posting a .266/.365/.501 line and popping a career-best 28 home runs in 521 plate appearances that season. He was honored with an All-Star selection for his performance, which he parlayed into a two-year deal with the Indians as a free agent that offseason.
Unfortunately, Alonso’s massive gains at the plate proved to be short-lived. After an average offensive effort in 2018, Cleveland shipped Alonso to the White Sox. He struggled mightily with Chicago and the Rockies, forcing him to settle for a minor-league deal this winter. Alonso didn’t make it back to the majors this past season.
Altogether, Alonso played in 1,072 major league games and took 3,773 plate appearances at the highest level. He posted a cumulative .259/.332/.404 slash line and hit exactly 100 home runs. Alonso suited up for seven different clubs and represented Oakland during the aforementioned All-Star appearance in 2017. MLBTR wishes Alonso the best in retirement.
6th place as ROY in 2012! Good luck!
Anything that shows up on the Awards column on a baseball-reference page to me is a huge accomplishment. Also the AS in 2017. That’s a great career to be proud of!
100%. Especially if you think about all the guys that don’t even get the opportunity to play in the bigs, some guys don’t even make it pro
With his earnings he should’ve easily made enough money to live comfortably. I guess if he runs out he could always beg his bro in law Manny Machado for some spare change.
Wishing him well as he forays into the great Be-Yonder after baseball
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This guy had a ton of potential but never got things going until 2017. Retiring at 33, Wow.
Most players don’t last long enough to even announce a retirement. The game decides they are done long before age 33. Only the best of the best play into their late 30s. Alonso was not that, but he was better than most. A 10 year big league career is nothing to look down upon.
He had a pretty good run, all told. Most players wash out after just a few years.
Nearly 9 years of major league service time under his belt (just shy of being fully vested in the union pension). ~90% of players never get that far.
Maybe he’ll convince his cousin to join him this time around?
I thought Yonder was actually on the Braves active roster as a back up for Freeman at 1 point this year?
C’mon now, these headlines write themselves, “It’s Over, Yonder !”
Yonder, the guy Oakland fans screamed back in 2017 at the trading deadline was the next HOF’er…..now out of baseball.
Just proves a point of mine…..Seems to me, we as commenters know little to nothing about the inner workings of baseball and exactly who and why these athletes will succeed.
I think rocky7 is being a bit hyperbolic. Actually, my previous sentence is an understatement. The words Alonso, Yonder, Fame, Hall, Of were never thrown together in a sentence without the word NOT also being attached.
I’d have gone to Japan instead of signing a minor league deal, he’d probably be making more money that way.
Decent career, qualified for pension, good job!
And now the obligatory “MLBTR wishes Alonso the best in retirement “ .