This hardly comes as a big surprise at this point, but Vladimir Guerrero told Hector Gomez of Dominican Republic newspaper Listin Diario (link in Spanish) that he has retired from baseball at the age of 38.

“I decided to announce my retirement because I want to spend more time with my family,” said Guerrero (translated from Spanish). “Also by the fact the two operations I’ve had in my right knee.”

Guerrero hasn’t played in the majors since 2011 when he batted .290/.317/.416 with 13 home runs and a .733 OPS with the Orioles. He had a brief stint in the minors with the Blue Jays in 2012, but eventually asked for his release after he wasn’t called up to the majors. It was reported earlier this year that he was planning to join the independent Long Island Ducks, but that effort never really got off the ground.

A nine-time All-Star, Guerrero will walk away from the game with a .318 career batting average to go along with 2,590 hits, 449 home runs, and 1,496 RBI. He won an MVP Award in 2004 as a member of the Angels. While he ultimately fell short of his goal of 500 home runs, he would still seem to have a pretty good shot at being enshrined in Cooperstown. If it happens, one would think he’d be wearing an Expos cap.

And man, what an arm.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdzM02BgL-k&w=560&h=315]

(Hat-tip to MLB Trade Rumors for the link)

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