This got lost in the shuffle of the most eventful March on record, but former Astros prospect A.J. Reed decided to retire earlier this month. His retirement was first reported by WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Reed, who is still just 26, got on everyone’s radar when he posted a line of .340/.432/.612 with 34 homers and 127 RBI between High-A and Double-A in 2015. That would earn him a brief callup to Houston that didn’t go well. After that he’d have success at Triple-A in a couple of subsequent years but could never make the leap to the bigs, hitting just.149/.241/.234 with four homers over 199 plate appearances across four seasons with Houston and, last year, with the White Sox. Given his lack of defensive value -- he was already DH’ing a good deal -- his lack of offensive success pretty much ticketed him as a career Triple-A player.
And he probably could’ve had a decent career as a Triple-A guy -- lifers can do alright in that role compared to how the youngsters do -- but he obviously decided to move on with the second act of his life.
