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.”
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.
Year Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB 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 LAD (8 yrs) 277 561 64 116 19 4 3 33 41 .207 .260 .271 .530
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.