LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Dodgers player, Kristopher Negron, 33, announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Tuesday, November 12, via Twitter.
The utility player is a New Jersey native, who as a college athlete impressed scouts enough to be selected by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2006 MLB draft. Negron was later traded to the Cincinnati Reds in August 2009 and was called up to the Majors as a Red on June 6, making his debut the following day.
Negron was released by the Reds, but went on to focus on his rehabilitation after suffering a shoulder injury the prior season. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs and later went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016. His constant moving did not stop, as he was traded to the Seattle Mariners who later traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28, 2019. In his first at bat with the Dodgers organization, Negron hit a home run off pitcher Kyle Freeland of the Colorado Rockies.
“Words cannot adequately express how I feel as I announce my retirement from playing professional baseball. I fell in love with the game of baseball at a very young age and to think that I’ve been fortunate to play 14 seasons is incredible. Baseball has given me the opportunity to meet so many people and travel to places I’ve never thought I’d go. Thank you to the Red Sox, Reds, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Mariners, and the Dodgers organizations for making this 33 year old kid’s dream come true. To all my teammates I’ve had over the years, I’ll always remember the times we spent grinding it out together. The long bus trips, early morning flights, rain delays, I cherish it all. To the fans, thank you for always sticking by me through the ups and downs and the surgeries and rehab. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to play this beautiful game. Looking forward to the next chapter! #goodvibesonly,” said Negron in a statement via his Twitter account.
