Ryan Freel - MLB Career

MLB Career

Freel attended Tallahassee Community College and was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1994 amateur entry draft, but did not sign. A year later, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 1995 amateur draft. Freel played 6 seasons in the Toronto minor league system before making his Major League debut on April 4, 2001. He only played in 9 games for the Blue Jays in his rookie year, hitting .273 with 0 home runs, 3 RBI and 2 stolen bases. After the season was over, Freel was granted free agency and signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Freel played the entire 2002 season in the minor leagues with the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Devil Rays. He hit .261 with 8 home runs, 48 RBI, and 37 steals. On November 18, 2002, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent.

In five seasons with the Reds, Freel hit .270 with 22 home runs, 104 runs batted in, and 134 stolen bases. His best season for the Reds was in 2004, when he hit .277 with 3 home runs, 28 RBI, 37 stolen bases, and 74 runs scored in 143 games. In 2007, Freel signed a two-year, $3 million contract extension with the Reds.

On December 9, 2008, Freel was traded along with two minor leaguers to the Baltimore Orioles for catcher Ramón Hernández. On May 8, 2009, Freel was traded once again, this time to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Joey Gathright and cash considerations. On July 2, 2009, Freel was designated for assignment to create roster space for the newly acquired Jeff Baker. On July 6, 2009, Freel and cash was traded to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later.

On August 5, 2009, Freel was designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals. He was released on August 13, 2009. On August 28, 2009 Freel signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He was released 2 days later.

In April 2010, Freel signed with the independent Somerset Patriots.

On May 17, 2010, Freel announced his retirement.