Josh Donaldson’s MLB career has come to a conclusion.
Donaldson, 38, announced his retirement from baseball on the “Mayor’s Office” podcast with former Reds great Sean Casey on Monday, concluding a 13-year MLB career.
Donaldson first broke into the big leagues in 2010 with the A’s, getting 34 plate appearances in 14 games.
He appeared in 75 games for Oakland in 2012, and then after that, was a major league fixture for the remainder of his career.
His best season came in 2015 as a member of the Blue Jays, when he led the American League with 122 runs, 123 RBIs and 352 total bases and won the MVP award.
Donaldson was a three-time All-Star, and he additionally played for the Guardians, Braves, Twins, Yankees and Brewers.
Most of his final two seasons came with with Yankees and they were disastrous.
He was released in August last season when he was hitting .142 on the year.
On the podcast with Casey, Donaldson noted that he married his wife, Briana, this offseason after seven years and two children together.
He said that his “next hobby” will be golf.
“There was a time at the end of the season that I felt really good about where I was at, and wanted to try to give it one more go,” Donaldson told Casey, who was the Yankees hitting coach for the second half of last season.
“But, being home with the family, getting married — today is a sad but also happy day for me … I’ve dedicated my entire life around [baseball], and my family has. It’s sad because I won’t be able to go out there play the game that I love anymore, but it’s also a very happy time that I get to be around my family and kind of take that next chapter in life.”
In November, Donaldson had left the door open to potentially return this season.
“I think at the end of the day it just depends on the situation. If it’s a situation that I feel (comfortable in) then I’m definitely up for playing one more year,” he said at the time.
“But I think after this upcoming season, that would be my last season no matter what. I would like to play one more year and go out on a good note and then that’d be it.”
He said he wasn’t sure what life after baseball would look like.
“I don’t really know. Just for the people who have asked me about staying in baseball and wanting to be in baseball, or wanting me to stay in baseball, there will be some opportunities there if I want it,” Donaldson said.
“I don’t know if that’s something I want to do right out of the gate. I think I would like to take a few years off.”
