In a statement released Tuesday afternoon through his agency, CAA, Ryan Zimmerman told the world that he’s hanging up his cleats. Zimmerman has announced his retirement after 16 major league seasons, all of them spent with the Washington Nationals.
The 37-year-old had a valuable, lucrative and unique career. Zimmerman was selected as the Nats’ first-ever amateur draft pick in 2005 (after the franchise moved from Montreal) and made his MLB debut later in the same season. That’s practically unheard of for position players and will be even more difficult to emulate moving forward now that draft is held annually in July instead of June.