Bobby Abreu Announces Retirement After 18-Year MLB Career

After quietly returning to the big leagues in 2014 after a one-year hiatus, New York Mets outfielder Bobby Abreu has officially called it a career.  

According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Abreu made the announcement Friday with a simple, quiet message:

You could be forgiven if you forgot Abreu was still a Major League Baseball player. He has only appeared in 76 games for the Mets this season, posting a .246/.338/.338 line with 10 extra-base hits in 130 at-bats. That doesn't take away from the incredible talent he was at his peak. 

Paul Boye of Crashburn Alley and ESPN tweeted this stat about Abreu's career numbers that puts him in some very elite company:

Joe Morgan and Rickey Henderson are Hall of Famers while Barry Bonds should be but probably won't get in for obvious reasons. You likely won't hear much about Abreu when he becomes a candidate for Cooperstown in five years.

The overall numbers are fantastic, and he had some terrific individual seasons, including three consecutive years (1998-2000) with more than six FanGraphs wins above replacement, but he was more of a compiler than someone who was ever in the conversation as best player in the game. 

Abreu also spent the bulk of his career in Philadelphia before the Phillies became a championship contender. He was traded to the Yankees in 2006 and left there to sign with the Los Angeles Angels after the 2008 season, one year before the Yankees would win their most recent World Series. 

For someone who was never the best player in baseball and never finished higher than 12th in MVP voting, Abreu was an incredible hitter. His .395 career on-base percentage is 78th all time, ahead of Gary Sheffield, Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew. 

That's good company for a guy whose resume is likely to fall short of a Hall of Famer. 

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