Former Brewers All-Star standout slugger finally decides to hang it up and retire

On Monday, the Royals took to social media to announce that they'll have a special pregame ceremony ahead of their matchup against the Tigers on May 31. Before the game gets underway, the Royals will celebrate the career of former Milwaukee Brewers slugger Mike Moustakas, who will officially retire as a Royal.

Of course, the three-time All-Star and 2015 World Series Champion has not suited up since the end of the 2023 campaign, but he had yet to make anything official in terms of his playing career continuing or not until now.

Moustakas, a 13-year veteran, started and finished his career as a just-below-average player, but his peak from 2015 to 2020 was an extremely solid group of years. In that time, he made all three of his All-Star Game appearances, posted a combined 11.3 bWAR, hit 138 home runs and had an OPS of .816 through 661 games.

197 of those came as a member of the Brewers, who acquired "Moose" at the 2018 trade deadline for Jorge Lopez and Brett Phillips. He re-signed with Milwaukee on a single-year pact that saw him earn $10 million and promptly put together the second-best season of his entire career.

Former Brewers infielder Mike Moustakas set to retire from MLB

While his second-half showing in 2018 left quite a bit to be desired, Moustakas hit 35 home runs with 87 RBI, an .845 OPS and a 114 OPS+ with the 2019 Brewers, making his third and final All-Star Game and posting 2.6 bWAR, his highest at the time since 2015. Over the next handful of seasons before he ended his career, he never came close to that production again.

What makes Moustakas' time in Milwaukee most fascinating, outside of the fact that he was a major offensive force in 2019, was the fact that he added a brand new position to his defensive repertoire upon re-signing ahead of that season.

A long-time third baseman who had at times proved to be a competent defender there, Moustakas took up second base for the first time as a pro and handled it admirably. Sure, he had -1 Defensive Runs Saved and -1 Outs Above Average there, which would tell you he didn't fare all that well, but the fact that he came that close to breaking even at a brand new position is impressive in itself.

Moustakas' best years and rise to fame came as a member of the Royals, so it's only fitting to see him retire where he first broke into the league, but he is not to be forgotten for the role he played on the Brewers for that year-and-a-half span. Congratulations on an excellent career, Moose.

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