Carlos Lee Retires

[jjkoestler]

Carlos Lee has announced his retirement from baseball.

 

Lee said on a radio show in Panama that he received offers from four different teams over the offseason, but none of them were for the two years he desired. "El Caballo" hit .285/.339/.483 with 358 homers, 1,363 RBI and 125 stolen bases over 14 major league seasons. In addition to making $130.275 million during his career, Lee also owns and operates profitable cattle ranches, so he's done quite well for himself.

 

Source: ESPN Deportes Jun 21 - 12:49 PM

[Funketown]

I always enjoyed El Caballo.

 

If the Brewers had known before the season that Hart would be out for 3+ months, it might have been worth it to make an offer to Lee for two years at $3-4 million as a bench guy and 1B, but I don't know what type of money he was looking for.

[trwi7]

Apparently he had offers from four teams but didn't take a deal because no team offered him the two years he wanted.

[Thurston Fluff]

I was always surprised at how many bases he could steal. Dude just waited and watched until he found people not paying attention. Then he struck like a cobra. Well maybe not a cobra. Maybe a python who just ate a bison. But still he got to second before the ball.

[TooLiveBrew]

So wait -- he retired because he had a chance to play one more year, but not two more years? Why not still play this season & see if there are offers next season, if you actually wanted to play for two more seasons?

 

Reading between the lines, I'd have to guess those one-year deals just weren't for very much money.

[Invader3K]

It sounds like Lee was smart with his money, which is good to hear. My guess is he figured coming back for another season for a low salary wasn't worth it at this point.

 

Good for him. He was a fun player to watch for the season and a half he was here in Milwaukee.

[HiAndTight]

He's one of my favorite Brewers to watch. Seemed like he just loved the game like Carlos Gomez....always laughing, screwing around and I know RBI's aren't a real telling stat, but he did find a way to get that run in from 3rd almost every time.

[AZBrewCrew]

I met Carlos through a mutual friend a few years back while they were in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates. We had a few beers at the hotel bar and talked sports and farming for a while. Real low key laid back guy. Seemed to have a real passion for the game of baseball in talking to him.

[sveumrules]

Carlos Lee career SB% = 72.7%

Brett Lawrie career SB% = 68.8%