
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Chris Iannetta has announced his retirement from baseball. The catcher was recently designated for assignment by the New York Yankees, the last organization that employed him in the major leagues.
Before deciding to retire, the New York Yankees had sent Iannetta outright to their alternate training site, as he passed through waivers unclaimed. Then, yesterday, the team put him on the restricted list, a signal of what was to come for him.
In Rosenthal’s report, Iannetta said the Yankees’ decision to DFA him effectively signaled the finish line for him. “If I didn’t make the team out of spring, I was going to call it a career. They knew that the whole time,†Iannetta said on Saturday.
“That’s kind of what transpired when they (the Yankees) took me off the roster and wanted me to go to Scranton. I was like, no. I wasn’t about to hang on or sit around and wait for someone to get hurt or get called up again. I’ve never wished anyone to get hurt in my entire career, and I wasn’t about to start now,†he explained.
He retired with the Yankees, but shone with the Rockies
Iannetta, who is currently 37 years old, was in the bigs for 14 years, most of them with the Colorado Rockies. His career line is .230/.345/.406 and he hit 141 home runs in 1197 games and 4253 plate appearances. The backstop scored 449 runs and drove in 502.
Iannetta finished his big league tenure with an even 100 wRC+. In all his years behind the plate, he was able to accumulate 7.6 career WAR according to Fangraphs’ version.
The 2008 season, his first full year in the bigs with the Rockies, will probably go down as the best in his career, as he hit .264/.390/.505 with a .391 wOBA and a 129 wRC+, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 65 runs.