Matt Beaty, who played for four MLB teams over parts of five seasons and played a bit role in the Los Angeles Dodgers' march to the 2020 World Series championship, announced his retirement in a post to his Instagram account on Monday, Aug. 24. https://www.instagram.com/p/DccgneSqmux/ "I believe it’s time to finally officially announce that I’m entering the next chapter of my life," Beaty wrote. "It’s been almost two years since my last at-bat in baseball. The time since then has been filled with questions and back-and-forth.
Is there another opportunity out there? Or is it finally time to close this chapter?" Beaty went on to say that "walking away is hard" but "deep down, I think I knew my last game was my last game. I just held onto the hope that it wouldn’t be." Beaty, 33, played 305 career games for the Dodgers (2019-21), San Diego Padres (2022), San Francisco Giants (2023) and Kansas City Royals (2023).
That includes 15 postseason games with the Dodgers — three in 2020, when the team ended its 32-year World Series drought by beating the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series. Beaty played another 53 minor league games in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in 2024 before he was released in September of that year. He's remained a free agent ever since.
More news: Dodgers Ready for Shohei Ohtani’s Return, Move 7-1 Starter to Bullpen From 2019-21, Beaty slashed .262/.333/.425 (100 OPS+) for the Dodgers, establishing himself as a valuable left-handed hitting first baseman and corner outfielder. Beaty set career highs in plate appearances (268), home runs (nine), RBIs (46), doubles (19), slugging percentage (.458) and OPS (.775) as a rookie. More news: Former Dodgers Pitcher, Famous for Surgery Success, Dies After Beaty set career highs in games (120), on-base percentage (.363), OPS+ (104) in 2021, the Dodgers traded him to the Padres for pitcher River Ryan.
Ryan was one of the three players the Dodgers traded to the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 3 for pitcher Tarik Skubal. Over the next two seasons, Beaty played only 50 MLB games, failing to replicate his success in Los Angeles at any of his stops. "Baseball gave me friendships I cherish, experiences, failures, successes, perspective and a mindset that will stay with me for the rest of my life," Beaty wrote on Instagram.
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