San Francisco Giants icon Buster Posey is set to announce his retirement on Thursday, The Athletic reported on Wednesday.
The seven-time All-Star catcher was the face of a franchise that won three World Series titles during his 12-year career. He won National League MVP honors in 2012.
The 34-year-old Posey batted .304 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs in 113 games this season. He was an All-Star for a team that won a major-league best 107 games during the regular season before being eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
Posey batted .302 with 158 homers and 729 RBIs in 1,371 games with the Giants, first reaching the majors late in the 2009 season.
Posey was NL Rookie of the Year in 2010, a season that ended with the Giants beating the Texas Rangers to win one of their three World Series titles during a five-season span.
Posey played just 45 games the following season after sustaining a severe ankle injury during a collision at home plate. But he returned to win MVP honors in 2012 when he won the batting title with a .336 average and had 24 homers and 103 RBIs. All turned out to be career-best figures.
The Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series. Two years later, San Francisco defeated the Kansas City Royals for Posey’s third crown.
Posey’s offensive prowess declined in 2018-2019 under the rigors of catching and he opted to sit out the 2020 campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But he returned to have a solid campaign in 2021 prior to the surprising decision to call it a career.
The Giants held a club option of $22 million on Posey for 2022 with a $3 million buyout.
Posey batted .252 with five homers and 25 RBIs in 58 career postseason games.
