Former major league outfielder Carlos Gomez officially announced his retirement at a ceremony at American Family Field in Milwaukee this afternoon (video by MLB.com’s Adam McCalvey). The announcement marks the end of a 13-year major league career.
Of course, there’s not much doubt that Gomez’s playing days were already over. The 35-year-old last played in Major 201 and has not played professionally since working with Aguilas Sibenas in the Dominican Winter League during the 2020-20. Reports from the Dominican Republic in January 2020 indicated that Gomez’s playing days were likely to end, but he has not yet publicly finalized that decision.
Gomez hung his spikes ceremonially as a brewer who had the best run of his career. Acquired from the Twins in the 2009-10 off-season, the Electric Center area spent the next four and a half seasons with the Brew Crew. At its peak, Gomez was one of the game’s highest power-speed threats. Between 2013 and 2014, the right-handed hitter scored 47 home runs along the .284 / .347 / .491 line. While playing Gold Glove-Caliber Defense, he stuck to 74 stolen bases in those two seasons.
Gomez gained down-ballet MVP support in both of these campaigns, and some players were able to match his excellent skills. During those two years, Gomez is the seventh-ranked player in the all-rounder’s top-winning version of the Fangraph’s replacement, behind only Mike Trout, Andrew McCutton, teammates Jonathan Lucroy, Buster Posey, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Donaldson.
Milwaukee traded Gomez to the Astros in the 2015 deadline for Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana, Josh Header and Adrian Hauser. This is a good time for the Brewers to add a stream of young talent that is still helping the team today, as Gomez’s productivity has not been the same since that point. As he entered his 30s, Gomez bounced around the league with some clubs. He ended his playing days with the Mets, ironically who initially signed him in 2002 as a 16-year-old.
Gomez has appeared in the headlines with six different clubs in his career, although he will be famous for his peak in Milwaukee. He appeared in 1461 MLB games and hit .252 / .313 / .411 with 145 home runs, 236 doubles and 41 triplets. Gomez stole 268 bases, scored 675 and drove in 546. He appeared in two All-Star Games and won the Gold Glove during the star-level summit mentioned above. The fangraph and baseball references each valued his career at around 25 WAR. MLBTR congratulated Gomez for a very good career and wished him well for his future endeavors.
