Former Tigers Player Set To Suddenly Retire From Baseball

Some news broke on Monday that featured a former Detroit Tigers player.

According to Robert Murry of FanSided, Tucker Barnhart's agent Steve Rath of the Ballengee Group told him that the catcher is set to retire from professional baseball.

This comes as a bit of a surprise since he recently played a minor league game for the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate on June 29.

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Barnhart, a 12-year Major League veteran, was a member of the Tigers in 2022 after they acquired him from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Nick Quintana during the prior offseason.

Barnhart was coming off an eight-year stretch with the Reds where he won two Gold Glove Awards in the 2017 and 2020 seasons, and even though he never was a stout offensive player, Detroit felt like he could be a solid addition to their roster.

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But after he slashed .221/.287/.267 with one homer and 16 RBI across 94 games while also seeing his defensive level drop a bit, the Tigers didn't bring him back.

From there, Barnhart signed with the Chicago Cubs, spending a short stint with that franchise before he was released. He then played for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024 before signing with the Rangers prior to this year.

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Despite never being an offensive weapon, he still had a solid career.

As a 10th-round pick of the 2009 draft, he is stepping away from the game with two Gold Glove Awards, a slash line of .241/.318/.351, 53 homers, 131 doubles and 292 RBI to his name.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.