Former All-Star and two-time World Series shortstop Chris Taylor has retired from professional baseball, according to Major League Baseball, ending a 12-year career that included a decade of success with the Dodgers.
Taylor, 35, was a key member of the Dodger’s core during their rise to superteam status from 2016-2025.
Originally acquired in a trade with the Mariners as a rehab project — famously, in exchange for only reliever Zach Lee — the Virginia native blossomed in Los Angeles after refining his swing and becoming a versatile threat.
He played 1,007 of his 1,123 major league games in Dodger blue, collecting 790 hits, 108 home runs, 423 RBIs and a lot of important moments to go with it.
“He’s had a great career,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was in his first season with the team when Taylor arrived in June 2016. “He’s got everything he’s got.”
In 2017, Taylor was named MVP of the National League Championship Series, helping lead the Dodgers to their first World Series appearance in 29 years by hitting .316 with two home runs in a five-game sweep of the Cubs.
He had another memorable moment in the Dodgers’ pennant defense in the 2018 NLCS, making a sprawling, over-the-shoulder, run-saving catch in left field against the Brewers in the pivotal seventh game of the series in Milwaukee.
“Man, the world would be different if he didn’t do this game,” Roberts recalled.
When the Dodgers finally ended their championship drought in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Taylor played a key role, starting all but two of that year’s October games.
He then became an All-Star for the first time in 2021, when he hit .254 with 20 home runs and a career-high 73 RBIs in the regular season, before hitting a walk-off in the NL Wild Card game against the Cardinals.
In his postseason career, Taylor had nine home runs, 26 RBIs and a .791 OPS.
After the 2021 campaign, Taylor became a free agent but re-signed with the Dodgers on a four-year, $60 million contract struck just before the offseason at midseason.
As a 31-year-old at the time, Taylor’s game slowly declined amid repeated slumps and recurring injury problems. He never hit more than 15 home runs or hit better than .237 in a season. He was demoted to the bench during the Dodgers’ run to the 2024 World Series, then released last May in the final year of his contract.
Taylor has been with the Angels ever since, appearing in 30 big league games last season as he battled additional injuries that hampered his play. This year, he was with their Triple-A team in Salt Lake City, hitting .255 in 32 games.
But on Friday, the husband and father of two decided it was time to hang it up, 14 years removed from being originally selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft.
“I hope, [his wife] Mary and the kids can ride off into the sunset,” said Roberts, noting the charity work Taylor has done with his CT3.
