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Yankees release Alfonso Soriano; retirement next?

alfonso soriano getty

Predictably none of the other 29 teams wanted anything to do with Alfonso Soriano’s contract on the waiver wire, so the 38-year-old went unclaimed after being designated for assignment by the Yankees last week and has now been released.

Soriano was fantastic for the Yankees as a midseason pickup last year, smacking 17 homers in 58 games, but this year he hit just .227 with six homers and a .611 OPS in 67 games as one of the worst regulars in baseball. He’s always had awful strike zone control, but a 71/6 K/BB ratio suggests he may simply be washed up at some point.

Still, now that he’s available for the minimum salary rather than $18 million quite a few teams should probably kick the tires on Soriano as a part-timer or bench bat. Assuming he still wants to play, of course. There’s been some speculation that he may simply retire after 16 seasons, 1,975 games, and 412 homers.

Follow @AaronGleeman