Juan Castro Retires

Long time Major Leaguer and 8 year Dodger veteran, Juan Castro, has retired as a player and enters his new life as a Dodger Baseball executive.

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced that 17-year Major League veteran and former Dodger infielder Juan Castro has retired as an active player and been named to the position of Special Assistant, Baseball Operations and Player Development. Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.

“Juan was a consummate pro as a player,” said Colletti. “The opportunity to add him to our staff as someone who can both recognize and teach those traits is a true plus for this organization.”

Castro, 39, will spend time in player development and in evaluating at both the minor and Major League levels.

“It was time for me to make the decision to end my playing career,” said Castro. “I’m honored that Ned thought of bringing me back to the organization where I first signed as a young kid more than 20 years ago. I’m very excited to once again work for the Dodgers in a new and challenging role.”

Year	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1991	LAD-min	60	217	36	60	4	2	1	27	33	.276	.369	.327	.696
1992	LAD-min	113	446	56	116	15	4	4	42	37	.260	.314	.339	.652
1993	LAD-min	118	424	55	117	23	8	7	41	30	.276	.325	.417	.742
1994	LAD-min	123	445	55	128	25	4	4	44	31	.288	.334	.389	.723
1995	LAD-min	104	341	51	91	18	4	3	43	20	.267	.307	.370	.677
1995	LAD	11	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.400	.250	.650
1996	LAD-min	17	56	12	21	4	2	1	8	6	.375	.444	.571	1.016
1996	LAD	70	132	16	26	5	3	0	5	10	.197	.254	.280	.534
1997	LAD-min	27	101	11	31	5	2	2	11	4	.307	.327	.455	.783
1997	LAD	40	75	3	11	3	1	0	4	7	.147	.220	.213	.433
1998	LAD	89	220	25	43	7	0	2	14	15	.195	.245	.255	.499
1999	LAD-min	116	423	52	116	25	4	7	51	34	.274	.325	.402	.727
1999	LAD	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
2000	CIN-min	19	60	9	19	5	1	2	10	12	.317	.425	.533	.958
2000	CIN	82	224	20	54	12	2	4	23	14	.241	.283	.366	.649
2001	CIN	96	242	27	54	10	0	3	13	13	.223	.261	.302	.562
2002	CIN-min	5	17	2	3	0	0	0	2	1	.176	.222	.176	.399
2002	CIN	54	82	5	18	3	0	2	11	7	.220	.278	.329	.607
2003	CIN-min	9	32	3	7	0	0	1	5	2	.219	.257	.313	.570
2003	CIN	113	320	28	81	14	1	9	33	18	.253	.290	.388	.678
2004	CIN-min	5	18	1	3	1	0	0	3	1	.167	.200	.222	.422
2004	CIN	111	299	36	73	21	2	5	26	14	.244	.277	.378	.655
2005	MIN	97	272	27	70	18	1	5	33	9	.257	.279	.386	.665
2006	MIN	50	156	10	36	5	2	1	14	6	.231	.258	.308	.565
2006	CIN	54	95	8	27	5	1	2	14	5	.284	.320	.421	.741
2007	CIN	54	89	5	16	5	0	0	5	4	.180	.211	.236	.446
2008	COL-min	18	50	8	15	2	0	1	3	4	.300	.352	.400	.752
2008	CIN	7	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.091	.000	.091
2008	BAL	54	151	15	31	6	0	2	16	10	.205	.256	.285	.541
2009	LAD-min	3	11	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.182	.182	.182	.364
2009	LAD	57	112	18	31	4	0	1	9	6	.277	.311	.339	.650
2010	LAD-min	5	14	2	4	0	0	0	1	2	.286	.375	.286	.661
2010	PHI	54	126	7	25	5	0	0	13	7	.198	.237	.238	.475
2010	LAD	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.250	.000	.250
2011	LAD-min	9	25	6	11	2	1	0	3	2	.440	.481	.600	1.081
2011	LAD	7	14	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	.286	.333	.286	.619
17 Seasons		1103	2627	253	601	123	13	36	234	149	.229	.268	.327	.595
		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
LAD (8 yrs)		277	561	64	116	19	4	3	33	41	.207	.260	.271	.530

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/10/2011.

Castro is one of the most prolific Mexican players in Major League history, ranking fifth among Mexican-born players in games (1,103), at-bats (2,627) and doubles (123) while finishing seventh in home runs (36), runs (253), hits (601) and RBI (234). Castro represented Mexico during the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.

In addition to his glove work at shortstop, Castro owns a .982 career fielding percentage in 251 games at second base and a .954 mark over 264 games at third base. He appeared in the 1996 and 2009 playoffs with the Dodgers and currently resides in Peoria, AZ with his wife and four kids.