Former Dodgers Catcher Contemplating Retirement: Report

“It was his choice,” Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy said, according to Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. “We talked yesterday… and his response was ‘It’s time to be dad.’ ”

Grandal and his wife Heather have three children.

Grandal was already reported to be contemplating retirement once this year, after turning down a contract offer from the Atlanta Braves in February. An All-Star catcher for the Dodgers, Grandal spent the 2024 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in a timeshare with Joey Bart and Henry Davis.

In 23 games at Worcester, Grandal demonstrated the patience at the plate that endeared him to the Dodgers for four seasons (2015-18). He slashed .256/.372/.397 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in 23 games.

However, with no teams offering a major league contract — at least none to his liking — it appears Grandal is ready to hang up his cleats.

A veteran of 13 major league seasons, Grandal played 1,307 games for the San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, Dodgers and Pirates since his 2012 debut.

Before pitch-framing became quantified and widely taught around the majors, Grandal was one of the first demonstrably excellent catchers at the valuable skill. No catcher was credited with more framing runs after Statcast began tracking the metric than Grandal (103); Buster Posey is a distant second with 66.

Grandal enjoyed his best seasons with the Dodgers, averaging 5 WAR (per FanGraphs, which incorporates catcher framing into its WAR metric) per season from 2015-18. He made his first career All-Star team in Los Angeles in 2015, his first season after being acquired in a blockbuster Winter Meetings trade that sent Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres.

A switch-hitter, Grandal also brought a dimension of offense to the catcher position. He averaged 22 home runs per year as a Dodger, while producing a solid .337 on-base percentage and 113 OPS+.

Grandal rejected the Dodgers' qualifying offer after their 2018 World Series run. He signed a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers for 2019, ending his time in Los Angeles.

Grandal made the second and final All-Star team of his career in 2019. He finished his only season in Milwaukee with a career-high 28 home runs and 77 RBIs.

The Chicago White Sox signed Grandal to a four-year, $73 million contract prior to the 2020 season. His four years in Chicago included two postseason runs, but the White Sox fell short of their World Series ambitions.