Four-time all-star and long-time New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes — who also spent time with the Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins — announced his retirement on Wednesday after 16 MLB seasons.
“As a young boy growing up in the Dominican Republic, I could have never dreamed of achieving all that I have through this incredible game. I want to thank God for all my blessings,” Reyes said in a statement posted on Twiter.
The 37-year-old was signed by the Mets as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic, breaking in with the club in 2003 and eventually forming an all-star infield combo with long-time teammate David Wright, who arrived a year later.
Reyes left the Mets as a free agent in 2011, but returned five years later and eventually said farewell to the game alongside Wright, whose career was hampered by injuries, at the end of the 2018 campaign.
He received a 51-game suspension under the MLB’s domestic violence policy in 2016 after being accused of grabbing his wife by the throat and shoving her into a glass door. The charges of domestic violence were dropped after his wife did not co-operate with police.
Reyes also spent three years in Toronto before being shipped out of town as part of the 2015 trade that netted the Blue Jays Troy Tulowitzki.
Reyes made four Midsummer Classics (2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011), captured the 2011 batting title with a .337 average and won a 2006 Silver Slugger award.
He finished his career with 2,138 hits, 145 home runs, 719 RBI and a .283 batting average.
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