Red Sox Leader Opens Up About Potential MLB Retirement

Most of the Red Sox roster is made up of players who are still cutting their teeth in MLB and/or haven't yet reached their prime.

However, there are a handful of veterans in Boston who are much closer to the end of their big league career than the beginning.

One of those players is Rob Refsnyder, who's amid his 10th season in The Show. A baseball journeyman, Refsnyder never played more than 51 games in an MLB season before joining the Red Sox in 2022. The outfielder eclipsed that threshold in each of the last three seasons including the 2024 campaign, which is shaping up to be the best season of his career.

Nonetheless, Refsnyder recently informed The Boston Globe that he was considering retiring after the season to spend more time with his family. The 33-year-old expanded on that idea in a conversation with Julian McWilliams.

"I don’t know yet," Refsnyder told McWilliams. "I'm undecided. I really don't care about individual stats. I wanted to make a postseason run in Boston and experience that. I'll take it step by step from there and decide what I do.

"You can still make a big impact not being in a uniform and it's a lot easier for your family and their schedule. Who knows if I'll have that opportunity? But I think it would be a joy to figure out how I can help young players."

For what it's worth, Alex Cora is "not buying" the retirement talk from Refsnyder, whose contract includes a club option for next season. The Red Sox manager also noted how it would "be great" to have Refsnyder back with Boston in 2025.

But as Refsnyder said, he will finish out the season with the Red Sox before making a decision. And that postseason run he covets might be in the cards, as Boston entered Thursday only 3 1/2 games back of the final American League wild-card spot.