Former Dodger Adrian Gonzalez Retires From Baseball
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Former Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez officially announced his retirement from baseball on Saturday.
Though he hasn't suited up in the MLB since 2018, Gonzalez, 39-years-old, made the news official via his Instagram account today.
Gonzalez's MLB career began in 2000, when he was drafted first overall by the Miami Marlins out of high school in the 2000 MLB Draft. After a four-year stint in the minor leagues, and a trade sending him to the Texas Rangers, then another trade sending him to the San Diego Padres, Gonzalez would eventually end up getting his first substantial amount of playing time with his hometown Padres in 2006.
He broke out in San Diego, earning three All-Star Game berths and two Gold Gloves. During his six seasons with the Padres, he would total 161 homers, 501 RBIs and 856 hits to the tune of a .288 batting average.
The Padres shocked the MLB world in 2011 when they sent Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox, in exchange for a haul of minor league prospects. He promptly signed a seven-year extension with Boston, worth $154 million.
That wouldn't last long however, as despite an impressive performance with the team (earning his fourth All-Star Game nod, his third Gold Glove and his first Silver Slugger), he was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, one of the most memorable salary-dump trades in recent MLB history, along with Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto.
Gonzalez would continue to flourish with the Boys in Blue, especially in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he would win his fourth Gold Glove and his second Silver Slugger, and in 2015 he was once again nominated to the All-Star Game. He finished 2014 as the league leader in RBIs with 116.
Gonzalez's time as a Dodger is fondly remembered by many, as he finished six years in Dodger Blue with 735 games played. He would finish his time in Los Angeles with 101 homers, 448 runs driven in and 752 hits, all the while hitting .280.
His return to Dodger Stadium, this time as a team member as opposed to as a rival with the Padres, was well-received, when he blasted a three-run home run, his first of many with the Dodgers, in his first at-bat. He also mashed two home runs in a do-or-die Game 5 of the 2013 National League Championship Series, a series which the Dodgers would go on to lose one game later.
He remained with Los Angeles until 2017, when he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. He was released by the team two days later.
In 2018, Gonzalez signed a one-year contract with the New York Mets, but he would last just 54 games before he was granted his release.
Now, almost four years later, and Gonzalez has officially called it quits (after another very brief stint on the diamond, this time with the Mexican League's Mariachis de Guadalajara).
Over the span of his MLB career, he compiled 2,050 hits, 317 home runs and 1,202 RBIs. Over those 15 years he had a .287 batting average, with a .358 on-base percentage and a .485 slugging percentage. Gonzalez finished Top 10 in MVP voting three times, including his fourth-place finish in 2010.
