Howie

Kendrick

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters last week that he was open to bringing Kendrick back for the 2021 season, but the 37-year-old will instead hang up his cleats for good after a 15-year major league career that also included stints with the Angels, Dodgers, and Phillies. “I will always love the game of baseball and will constantly reflect on the lifelong memories made,” Kendrick wrote beside a picture of his family and the 2019 World Series trophy. “For now, it’s time to drop the mic and enter a new stage of my life. Thank you!” He goes out as a career .294/.337/.430 hitter, and with his total career earnings topping $71 million.

“If it’s the right role in the right situation, I’d love to have him back,” Rizzo said of Kendrick. The 37-year-old batted hamstring and back injuries this past season while batting just .275/.320/.385 with two homers over 100 plate appearances. Zimmerman, 36, opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over COVID-19. One or both could be part of the first base situation for the Nats next season.

Kendrick previously considered retirement, but Ghiroli hears that he’s already drawn some interest and will look to play “at least” one more year. Coming off a monster 2019, the 37-year-old battled hamstring and back injuries this past season while batting just .275/.320/.385 with two homers over 100 plate appearances. Still, it’s easy to imagine him drawing at least part-time at-bats next year, especially if the DH sticks around for 2021.

Kendrick will get a $2.25 million buyout and may head into retirement at age 37. He was brilliant for Washington in 2019 before slashing just .275/.320/.385 with two home runs over 100 plate appearances in 2020.

“‘Man, do you want to go out like this? Do you want 2020 to be any worse?’” he told reporters Friday during a Zoom call in which he revealed that he had previously intended for 2020 to be his last season. “2020 has been strange, due to COVID and all the other climate going around the country. It is a strange year. And to think you would end on a year like this ... it is a tough one.” Between the abbreviated season and a hamstring injury that cost the 37-year-old a month of the already-shortened year, it’s surely not how Kendrick envisioned his final go-round after being a postseason hero en route to a World Series title in 2019. “I want to get healthy first, and talk with my family and then decide,” he said. “Because right now, being hurt, I wasn’t too happy about finishing this way. We’ll see what happens. I don’t want to say yes, and I don’t want to say no. Because right now, I really don’t have an answer.”

Doctors have told Kendrick that he could aggravate his left hamstring issue by pushing it, and with the Nationals out of the playoff hunt it doesn’t make sense for him to try to make it back. There’s a $6.5 mutual option (or $2.25 million buyout) on the 37-year-old for 2021, although he said he hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll keep playing or retire.

Kendrick went down earlier this month with a left hamstring strain and wants to at least get some peace of mind going into the winter. The 37-year-old has batted .275/.320/.385 over 100 plate appearances this season after a standout 2019 campaign.

Kendrick initially suffered the injury back in mid-August and was struggling to play through the lingering discomfort. The 37-year-old has posted a relatively underwhelming .275/.320/.385 batting line in 100 plate appearances this season for the Nats, after slashing .344/.395/.572 across 370 plate appearances in 2019.

Kendrick took Martin Perez deep in the third inning for his second homer of the season. The 37-year-old dealt with some hamstring issues earlier this month, but he’s hitting .353 (6-for-17) with five RBI in five games since returning to action. Play him with confidence in mixed fantasy leagues once again.

He’ll get a breather after starting back-to-back games upon his return from a hamstring issue. Eric Thames will serve as the designated hitter and Asdrubal Cabrera will start at first base while Carter Kieboom plays third.