Jeff Kent to retire

Quote :

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Kent plans to announce his retirement from baseball on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Kent spent 17 years in the major leagues and leaves as the career home-run leader among second basemen with 351, 74 more than Ryne Sandberg.

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted Kent in the 20th round of the '89 amateur draft. After spending time in the minors, Kent made Toronto's opening-day roster in '92 but was dealt to the New York Mets on Aug. 29 in a deal for pitcher David Cone.

The Jays went on to win the World Series that season, and later presented Kent with a ring.

Kent spent the last four seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .291 with 122 doubles, 75 homers and 311 RBIs. Los Angeles issued a statement Wednesday announcing the news conference.

A five-time all-star and the 2000 NL MVP, Kent hit .253 during the first half of last season, improved to .353 in August, then injured his knee Aug. 29 and had surgery four days later. He returned to make the post-season roster, but was relegated to a bench role. He went a combined 0-for-9 with four strikeouts during the two playoff series and became a free agent in November.

Kent had a .290 career batting average, 377 homers, 1,518 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage. In addition to Toronto and the Mets, Kent also played for Cleveland, San Francisco and Houston.

His greatest success came with the Giants, where he played with Barry Bonds. The two players had some famous run-ins, and Kent later tangled with Milton Bradley in Los Angeles. Kent was known for his intense approach to the game and he criticized players who used performance-enhancing drugs while endorsing improved testing.

He made his only World Series appearance with San Francisco in 2002, hitting three homers as the Giants lost to the Anaheim Angels in seven games.

In recent seasons, Kent had expressed interest in spending more time with his family, which includes four children.

Wonderful career come to an end. I wonder whether he gets into the HOF based on the position he plays or will he be judged equally compared to other positional players.

He's Hall Of Fame material, player. Best second baseman of the last two decades!

But does best 2B in the last 2 decades (though I would say Alomar during his time was pretty damn good, and Kent seems to be getting all this attention only for above average power at best) mean that he's the best candidate to get into the hall?

There are a few second basemen in the HOF. I don't know if Kent has done enough, I'm just a Dodgers fan and I want to see him in there would the likes of Jackie Robinson.

HOLA.

He'd probably get inducted as a Giant anyway though, so I wouldn't back him too much

He was MVP and a 3 times All-Star with the Giants, so it does make sense.

3 time all-star means nothing when it comes to the HOF. You'd have to be staring down from anywhere 8 and beyond, most needing double figure all-star appearances to make it.

Well he has 5. 3 of them were with the Giants. A good point that you make though. He didn't get his shine on until like 98 or 99. He was beast after that though.