Shane Victorino‘s MLB career looks to be in serious jeopardy, as the Chicago Cubs released the 35-year-old outfielder Monday.
Victorino never made it to the majors this season. He was in Triple-A Iowa at the time of his release, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Victorino signed with the club on February 26 in hopes of winning one more championship before the sun set on his career, which he told MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat at the time of the signing.
“It’s not about playing time, it’s not about where things are, it’s about winning,” Victorino said. “Obviously, for me, I have to win my job on the team, and from there be the best player I can be to help the Cubs win a championship.”
After a spring training calf injury and poor play, Victorino was released on March 29 and re-signed on the same day to a minor league deal. He never seemed to rediscover his game, as he batted .233 with Iowa.
ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers reported that Victorino did not want to spend a lot of time in the minors, so the split could have been mutual after nearly two months of playing Triple-A ball.
The Cubs have a loaded roster and sit atop the National League Central at 29-13, so it was always a long shot that Victorino could become a consistent role player. Even after Kyle Schwarber went down for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in early April, Victorino still could not find a spot in Chicago’s outfield rotation.
He was instrumental in the Philadelphia Phillies‘ 2008 World Series title run, as he hit .293 in the regular season and batted .269 in that postseason. He also won a championship with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 and was twice named an American League All-Star.
After 12 seasons, Victorino is a lifetime .275 hitter with 108 home runs, 489 RBI and 231 stolen bases.
There is no shame in walking away after giving the best effort possible. Victorino has done that, and his comeback attempt was admirable. But it does not seem like he’ll have a place on a major league roster for the time being.
Victorino may get one more shot, though. Injuries to other players always change things, and the Cubs have brought him back before. Yet Victorino would be justified if he chooses to hang up his cleats in the near future after a tremendous career.
All statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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