Brian Schneider announces retirement

Former Expos/Nats, Mets, and Phillies' catcher Brian Schneider announced his retirement from baseball on Tuesday, according to Mandy Housenick of The Morning Call:

"It hasn’t been an easy decision, but there are a lot of factors," Schneider told me. "You don’t want to retire, but you think of your family and I think more than anything it’s physically how you feel.

"I’d kind of like to leave on my own terms and not have my last impression of baseball be someone telling me I can’t play. But there is a lot going on in my life and I’m very fortunate to have a great family and start being a dad and being around more often and being a good husband."

Schneider, 36, was drafted out of high school by the Montreal Expos in the fifth round of the 1995 draft. The lefty-hitting catcher steadily climbed his way through the club's farm system, and made his big-league debut in May 2000.

Schneider took over the Expos' starting catcher job in 2003 and remained in that role well through the club's transition to Washington D.C. He finally moved on to a different organization following the 2007 season, when the Nationals traded him and Ryan Church to the New York Mets in exchange for Lastings Milledge.

Schneider took the starting catching reins for the final time in his inaugural year with New York, shifting to a back-up role for his final four seasons in the league (spent with the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies). He appeared in 34 games for the Phillies last season, racking up 20 hits -- including two home runs -- in 98 plate appearances.

Schneider never hit for much power or average in his 13 seasons behind the dish, but he always managed to put up an on-base percentage around the league norm and was incredibly adept at throwing out would-be base stealers. In his 2003-2004 seasons, he threw out a whopping 63 base-runners in 123 steal attempts -- over 50 percent.

He retires as a career .247/.320/.369 hitter with 67 home runs in 1,048 major-league games.