According to Jon Morosi on Twitter, Michael Brantley is retiring.
Brantley, 36, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers before being traded to the Cleveland Guardians at the end of the 2008 season as the player to be named later in the trade that sent C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee. Brantley played for the Guardians for ten seasons, peaking in 2014 with a 7.0 bWAR season and finishing third in the American League MVP voting.
Brantley struggled to stay healthy after that, missing most of 2016 and a good chunk of 2017. He signed with the Houston Astros after the 2018 season, and spent his final five seasons with them, though he played just 15 regular season games in 2023 and just 64 in 2022. If this is it for Brantley, his final at bat was a ninth inning pop out against Jose Leclerc in Game 7 of the ALCS.
Brantley ends his career with a .298/.355/.439 slash line and 34.3 bWAR.
