Wil Myers has determined to name it a profession after 11 massive league seasons, the longtime Padres first baseman/outfielder instructed MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. Whereas Myers confused that he wouldn’t ever “formally” retire, he made his choice in June 2023 after he’d been launched by the Reds and was coping with some shoulder issues.
“I had a fantastic profession. I cherished what I did. I made quite a lot of nice associates. I’ve no regrets,” Myers stated. “If you happen to had instructed me the day I used to be drafted that this could be your profession, I’d’ve taken it in a heartbeat. I cherished what I did, and now it’s simply form of onto the following chapter of life.”
Myers, who only recently turned 34, will cling up his glove after an excellent 1100 profession video games with the Rays, Padres, and Reds from 2013-23. Myers hit .252/.326/.437 with 156 residence runs over 4290 plate appearances, good for a 107 wRC+ throughout his time within the Present. He spent the vast majority of his time within the area as a primary baseman and proper fielder, but additionally with a giant chunk of time on the different two outfield positions and a while at third base (primarily in 2018, when the Padres had a number of first base/outfield sorts they have been making an attempt to suit into the lineup).
A 3rd-round decide for the Royals within the 2009 draft, Myers shortly grew to become certainly one of baseball’s most highly-touted prospects, and made headlines earlier than his MLB profession even started resulting from his involvement in a blockbuster commerce. In December 2012, the Royals despatched Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and third-base prospect Patrick Leonard to Tampa Bay in alternate for James Shields, Wade Davis, and Elliot Johnson. Kansas Metropolis’s farm system was seen as deep sufficient that it might afford to maneuver even a high prospect like Myers in alternate for win-now assist, and the choice paid off — Ok.C. received the AL pennant in each 2014 and 2015, and Davis was one of many aid aces of the Royals’ 2015 World Sequence title crew.
For the Rays, the deal paid some rapid dividends, as Myers received AL Rookie of the Yr honors in 2013 on the energy of 13 homers and a .293/.354/.478 slash line over 373 plate appearances. Nonetheless, Myers then battled wrist accidents and the sophomore stoop in 2014, resulting in his involvement in an excellent larger commerce. The Rays, Padres, and Nationals mixed on a mammoth three-team, 11-player deal that’s maybe finest remembered at the moment because the swap that introduced Trea Turner to Washington (and thus setting the desk for the Nats’ 2019 World Sequence championship).
From Myers’ perspective, the deal kicked off an eight-year run in San Diego that was general successful, albeit with loads of ups and downs. A lot of his time with the Padres is seen via the lens of the six-year, $83MM extension he signed previous to the 2017 season, which on the time was the biggest contract in San Diego franchise historical past. The large wage inevitably led to larger expectations that Myers didn’t completely fulfill, as accidents and a propensity for strikeouts restricted Myers’ manufacturing.
That stated, Myers nonetheless had loads of notable performances over the size of the deal. Myers was an All-Star in 2016, hit 30 homers through the 2017 season, and was probably the greatest hitters in baseball through the pandemic-shortened 2020 marketing campaign. That 2020 marketing campaign was significantly notable for the reason that Padres earned a wild card berth, marking San Diego’s first postseason look since 2006 and the official finish of the crew’s prolonged rebuild. Satirically, Myers’ contract made him troublesome to commerce amidst the Padres’ different cost-cutting strikes, and consequently, Myers ended up being “the one participant readily available for the whole thing of the franchise’s turnaround,” Cassavell writes.
Because the 2022 season rolled alongside, Myers grew to become a part-time participant and was once more hampered by accidents, so it was no shock when the Padres declined their $20MM membership possibility on Myers’ companies for the 2023 season. A free agent for the primary time in his profession, Myers landed in Cincinnati on a one-year deal value $7.5MM in assured cash, however he hit solely .189/.257/.283 in 141 PA over what’s going to find yourself as his closing season within the majors.
MLBTR congratulates Myers on a nice profession and we want him all the very best in his post-playing endeavors.
