Yonder Alonso calls it a career after ten years in the majors
By Nick Stevens
Yonder Alonso has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.
After a ten-year career that spanned across seven different MLB organizations, first baseman Yonder Alonso announced his retirement in a message on his Instagram page, thanking his family for their support and each organization who gave him an opportunity to play the game of baseball.
Alonso had signed with the Atlanta Braves before the start of the 2020 season, but never appeared in a game for the Braves and eventually found his way to the San Diego Padres in August.
He was granted free agency earlier this month after not seeing game action with the Padres either.
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It was with the San Diego Padres organization which Yonder Alonso spent the most of his ten-year career calling home.
Drafted in the first round of the 2008 draft by the Cincinnati Reds, Alonso appeared in 69 games in parts of two seasons with the Reds before being traded to the Padres along with Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal, and Edinson Volquez for starting pitcher Mat Latos.
Alonso would go on to finish sixth in National League Rookie of the Year voting in his first season with the Padres, slashing .273/.348/.393 with nine home runs, 39 doubles, and 62 RBI in 155 games.
Overall, Alonso spent four seasons as a Friar, amassing 5.5 Wins Above Replacement and 27 home runs before being traded to the Oakland A’s for Drew Pomeranz and Jabari Blash.
With the A’s, Alonso made his first and only All-Star appearance in 2017, hitting 22 home runs with an .896 OPS in 100 games for Oakland.
Alonso closed out his career with stops in Seattle, Cleveland, Chicago (White Sox), and finally Colorado where he played the final 54 games of his career.
Overall, Yonder Alonso hit an even 100 major league home runs with a career slash line of .259/.332/.404 and was worth 8.2 bWAR for his career.
He may not have lived up to the hype he had coming out of the University of Miami as a first-round pick and top prospect for many years, but to spend 10 seasons as a major league baseball player is no easy feat.
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We wish Yonder Alonso well in the next chapter of his life and congratulate him on a long and successful career in the majors.