NEW YORK — Sometime after surgery in early November to repair a core muscle injury, Michael Cuddyer realized his body was not up to a 19th season of professional baseball.
Following eight trips to the disabled list in four years caused by a strained oblique muscle, an inflamed cervical disk in his neck, a broken shoulder socket, a thigh strain and knee inflammation, it was time to stop.
"It wasn't just the DL stints. It's the aches and pains that every single player goes through over the course of 162 games. They started to get harder to get harder to come back from.