Los Angeles Angels: Jered Weaver May Retire, Should He?
By Josh Schwam
After 11 major league seasons, Jered Weaver may be considering hanging up his cleats. Is this the right choice for the Los Angeles Angels RHP?
Before falling off the map during the 2015 season, Jered Weaver was considered one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Los Angeles Angels right-hander is known for being a solid and consistent player. After 2016, Weaver will have completed 11 years in the major leagues. Including his average 4.80 ERA over the last two seasons, Weaver has a career 3.54 ERA. That said, his last couple years have been horrible. It is apparent that Weaver is starting to fall off; that 4.80 ERA and decreasing velocity year-by-year are showing his age.
Now, Weaver is most likely starting to face a question that plagues every professional athlete at one point or another; the retirement question.
Speaking before an August 21st start, before a 2-0 win over the New York Yankees, Weaver said, “There’s still a lot of season left. When the time comes to answer those questions, I will.” Weaver has been an elite pitcher for a while. He has been an extremely useful piece on playoff teams. Now, as a 33-year old, Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball says some in the organization believe he will retire at the end of the season.
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If Weaver does decide to hang up his cleats, he will leave baseball as a very good player, not a great player. He will be in the same boat as former Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams; very good but not great.
Weaver needs to answer two main questions before he retires. The question of ‘do I still want to play baseball?’ is not one that can be analyzed by anyone except himself. The other question, ‘can I still play baseball?’ is one that we can analyze.
Despite having his velocity decrease over the years, this season tells a far different story. His 84.4-MPH average figure for this month is up more than one from April, and the highest it has been in 14 months, according to Brooks Baseball.
The one problem for Weaver is, even though he seems to have gas left, his body language and overall demeanor on the mound show discomfort and a lack of passion. This usually seems to be when the game does not go in Anaheim’s favor, but that happens a lot in baseball.
As stated, we cannot figure out if Weaver wants to play baseball just by looking at him. Only Weaver can answer that question. That said, if he still wants to play, he certainly could. He has the velocity as well as the knowledge of how to pitch in the Major Leagues. This is also part of the reason why Weaver is a very good player. Having the ability to still have good stuff even when you may be losing passion is incredible.
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Either way, when he retires, Weaver will leave behind a lasting legacy of hard work and dedication. Oh, and being one of the best pitchers in the Angels history does not hurt his legacy.