Oakland A’s: Yonder Alonso announces retirement

Former Oakland A’s first baseman Yonder Alonso has announced that, after a ten year major league career, he is retiring.

Yonder Alonso had been expected to become one of the best young players in baseball. He was consistently rated amongst the top 100 prospects in the game, being ranked as high as the 33rd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. prior to the 2012 season.

While Alonso never reached those heights, he was a former All Star who spent parts of ten years in the majors. On Friday, the former Oakland A’s first baseman announced his retirement.

Alonso still ended up with a reasonably solid career. He posted a lifetime .259/.332/.404 batting line, hitting exactly 100 homers and 181 doubles over his 3773 plate appearances. Armed with a strong batting eye and excellent contact skills, Alonso drew 366 walks while striking out only 648 times.

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However, he did not show the power teams look for from their first basemen. His contact skills were excellent, but Alonso had doubles power at best. That changed during his second season with the Oakland A’s when he became one of the adherents of the Launch Angle Revolution, aiming to put the ball in the air with greater frequency.

That led to a career year in 2017. Alonso produced a .266/.369/.527 batting line, hitting 22 homers and 17 doubles in his 377 plate appearances before he was traded for Boog Powell. This marked the first time in his career that Alonso had even reached the double digit home run plateau, let alone hit 20 homers in a season.

Not only did that season lead to his only All Star nod, but it led to a two year, $15 million contract from the Indians. While he did hit 23 homers in that 2018 season, he was unable to live up to that salary. He was sent to the White Sox following that season as part of Chicago’s failed pursuit of Manny Machado only to be released after 67 games. Alonso finished the season with the Rockies, and even with the expanded rosters, failed to return to the majors last season.

Former Oakland A’s first baseman Yonder Alonso has called it a career after a decade in the majors. We wish him the best of luck in retirement.