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Catcher A.J. Pierzynski has retired and joined FOX as a full-time analyst, according to an announcement from the network. Pierzynski joins recent hires Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez at FOX.
Pierzynski sought out a contract to keep playing this winter, but nothing materialized for the veteran and he ultimately decided to trade his spikes for a commentator’s suit. Pierzynski will appear as both a color commentator and studio analyst for FOX, with whom he worked during the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 postseasons.
Pierzynski, 40, was a 23.3-WAR player over the course of a 19-year major-league career with the Twins (1998-03), Giants (2004), White Sox (2005-12), Rangers (2013), Red Sox (2014), Cardinals (2014) and Braves (2015-16). In that span, he hit .280/.319/.420 with 188 homers while being named to two All-Star teams (2002, 2006) and winning a World Series championship in 2005.
Pierzynski hit just .219/.243/.304 with two homers in 81 games for Atlanta in 2016.