Veteran slugger Kendrys Morales retires after 13 seasons

Veteran designated hitter/first baseman Kendrys Morales announced his retirement after 13 major-league seasons during an interview with ESPN's Marly Rivera on Friday.

"Making the decision was difficult, right? But all things in life come to an end," Morales told Rivera. "I spent many years, since Cuba, playing baseball and I gave up a lot of time I would have spent with my family. That is the one of the reasons I have decided to retire, to see if I can recover some of that lost time. Also, Major League Baseball has changed and maybe veteran ballplayers such as myself are not valued, so this is the right time to make this decision.

"It is hard, but it is the right decision for both me and my family."

Morales appeared in 53 games during his final season, split between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. The 36-year-old was traded to Oakland by the Toronto Blue Jays on the eve of Opening Day last March, and he was then dealt to New York a month later. The Yankees released him in July.

As a teenager, Morales was a star slugger in his native Cuba for both the national team and the iconic National Series team Industriales. In 2004, on his 12th attempt, he successfully defected from his native country by floating on a raft to Florida. Shortly thereafter, he signed with the Los Angeles Angels and reached the majors two years later.

Morales appeared to be en route to stardom in 2010 when he fractured his leg while celebrating a walk-off grand slam. The freak injury cost him nearly two full seasons and forced him to primarily serve as a DH for the rest of his career.

Morales leaves the majors having compiled a .265/.327/.453 line (111 OPS+) with 1,289 hits, 213 home runs, 740 RBIs, and 7.9 WAR over his 13 seasons with the Angels, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Blue Jays, Athletics, and Yankees. In 2015, he helped the Royals win a World Series championship.

Though he never made an All-Star team, Morales received AL MVP votes in two seasons - including a fifth-place finish with the Angels in 2009 - and took home both a Silver Slugger and the Edgar Martinez Outstanding DH award with the Royals in 2015.