Rizzo announced his retirement from professional baseball Wednesday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.
Rizzo will officially retire as a Cub and be honored at Wrigley Field on Saturday. He will also return to the organization in an ambassador role. Rizzo batted .261/.361/.467 over 14 major-league seasons, hitting 303 home runs. He made three All-Star teams and won four Gold Gloves.
Rizzo said Friday that he is fully healthy and remains eager to play in 2025 despite not having a team heading into spring training, Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic report.
While Rizzo may still want to play in the majors, it doesn't seem there are many teams interested in bringing in an aging veteran who is coming off his worst regular season in 13 years (.636 OPS) and hasn't reached the 100-game mark since 2022 due to troubles staying healthy. He most recently suffered two fractured fingers on his right hand after getting hit by a pitch in late September, which forced him to sit out until the ALCS. His hand has since fully recovered, and he's been going through his normal offseason routine, though the three-time All-Star acknowledged that if enough time passes and he still remains on the open market, it may be time to start thinking about retirement.
The Yankees declined Rizzo's $17 million club option for 2025 on Saturday.
Rizzo slashed just .228/.301/.335 with 35 RBI across 375 plate appearances in 2024 -- his worst season at the plate since his rookie year with the Padres in 2011. Despite his significant drop in production, the 35-year-old first baseman should still be able to attract some attention in the open market, though he likely won't receive anything close to the $17 million average annual salary he'd been getting from New York.
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