The offseason is starting to wind its way toward the sunnier days in Florida and Arizona, with spring training camps now less than a month away from getting underway. As is the trend in Major League Baseball each winter, there are a lot of free agents still on the market late in the offseason looking for work in 2025.
One of the names still without a signed contract for this season is former Philadelphia Phillies veteran Whit Merrifield. From the sounds of things, there's a chance that the three-time All-Star, who's just a week shy of turning 36, will choose to hang up the cleats and retire instead of trying to find another fit for what would likely be a one-year deal.
Ex-Phillies player Whit Merrifield is reportedly considering retirement
As MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports, Merrifield is considering calling it a career, according to one of Bowman's sources.
"Whit Merrifield was a good fit during his time in Atlanta. But a source has said there’s a chance he opts to retire and spend more time with his family," Bowman said in his recent Opening Day Braves roster projection.
Merrifield waited late into last offseason before signing with the Phillies. He didn't agree to his one-year contract until Feb. 16 last year, when training camp had already begun.
The move, which was the Phillies' only "high-profile" signing (outside of bringing Aaron Nola back) last offseason, seemed like a great fit on paper. Fresh off an All-Star season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023, adding an experienced player who was willing to take a bench role on a World Series contender looked like the right button to push for a star-studded squad.
It turned out to be anything but.
Despite being a phenomenal teammate and clubhouse guy for the Phillies, by all accounts, Merrifield never got things in gear as a utility player moving between left field and second base predominantly. With the pressure on the Phillies to improve on their Game 7 NLCS exit in 2023, the front office gave Merrifield a shorter rope last summer than most expected.
The Phillies released Merrifield on July 12 after he put up a seemingly impossible .199/.277/.295 slash line in 174 plate appearances over 53 games. It was, quite honestly, tough to watch.
Of course, what was even harder to watch was the Atlanta Braves picking him up 10 days later. While he performed better in a Braves uniform, including his "revenge game" against the Phillies, his .248/.348/.336 batting line in 42 games didn't result in another deal there.
The nine-year veteran has a career .280 batting average with a .741 OPS and has led the majors twice in hits, in 2018 and 2019, while with the Kansas City Royals. Whether Merrifield chooses to ultimately retire or give it another go in 2025, it's hard not to root for him to find success somewhere.