Two-time All-Star pitcher Andrew Miller announces retirement

Relief pitcher Andrew Miller told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday that he's retiring after 16 seasons in Major League Baseball.

Miller, 36, debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 2006 and spent time with six other teams — the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals — during his MLB career.

During his stints with the Yankees and Indians, Miller earned a pair of trips to the All-Star Game. He also played a significant role in Cleveland making it to the 2016 World Series, as he earned ALCS MVP honors when he struck out 14 batters and allowed zero runs in four appearances during the series.

Miller's most recent contributions came off the diamond, though. As a member of the MLB Players Association's executive board, Miller played a significant role in the negotiation of the new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified two weeks before his retirement announcement.

"He changed the game and he kind of took that relief role back to when it first started, guys who could do two, three innings — and he was the guy who did it in the postseason," Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright told the Post-Dispatch. "I have an appreciation for what he did for the entire game of baseball. As many hours as that guy put in for the union over these past few years is kind of staggering. He may retire and that means the whole offseason he still spent 16 hours on the phone a day, for us, for who's next — that means a lot."

In 612 career games, Miller recorded 979 strikeouts, 63 saves and a 4.03 ERA.