Two weeks ago, the 40-year-old Jim Edmonds signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals, looking to make a comeback after spending much of the offseason thinking about retiring. A healthy Edmonds would've been on track to break camp as an outfield reserve. However, Edmonds had surgery in January to alleviate pain in his Achilles, and the pain hasn't gone away. Because of the lingering discomfort, Edmonds called off his comeback bid, and soon thereafter on Friday morning, the Cardinals announced his official retirement.
Jim Edmonds Retires From Cardinals Due To Lingering Achilles Pain
The news comes as a shock, but not a surprise, as Edmonds has long struggled through injury problems that limited his time on the field. While Cardinals fans were excited about the idea of having him back, his role would’ve been a difficult fit, given his considerably reduced mobility and durability.
Edmonds retires having amassed a career batting line of .284/.376/.527. In terms of counting stats, he’s short of 2,000 hits and 400 home runs, which will hurt him in any future bid for the Hall of Fame. That said, there’s no questioning that Edmonds had Hall of Fame talent, as he posted a career .903 OPS while spending most of his time in center field. He has the same career OPS+ as Tony Gwynn and Joe Morgan. His WAR compares to that of Gwynn and Brooks Robinson. He was never the picture of health, but when he was on the field, he was an impact player from the start of his career to the finish.
Edmonds hit his peak between 2000-2005, when he put up a .989 OPS with 210 home runs as a Cardinal. He started out as an Angel and wound up with the Padres, Cubs, Brewers, and Reds, but he'll be best remembered for his time in St. Louis, and so it's appropriate that it was the Cardinals who made today's announcement.
For more on Edmonds, be sure to check out our Cardinals blog, Viva El Birdos.
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