Jason Heyward retires from baseball
“I hope he stays in the game in some capacity,” Dave Roberts said. “The game needs guys like Jason.”
Los Angeles, CA - August 29: Former Los Angeles Dodger Jason Heyward receives his World Series ring prior to a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, August 29, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images LOS ANGELES — Longtime major league outfielder Jason Heyward, who played in two of his 16 major league seasons with the Dodgers, announced his retirement from baseball on Friday. “I’d like to take one last time to show LOVE to the game of BASEBALL as a player.
You’ve taken me around the world. Given me something to dream of and work towards as a kid and a professional,” Heyward said in an Instagram post . “You’ve shown me the value of sacrifice, support, family, friends, competition, winning, respect, growth and many other lessons along the way.
” View this post on Instagram The five-time Gold Glove Award winner was released by the Chicago Cubs after two injury-plagued seasons in 2021-22. Heyward signed with the Dodgers that winter at the urging of Freddie Freeman, his friend and longtime teammate with the Atlanta Braves since they were both drafted out of high school by the team in 2007 — Heyward in the first round, Freeman in the second. “I never talked about really the baseball player Jason Heyward, I always talk about the person Jason Heyward,” Freeman told Mookie Betts on the Off Base podcast in 2023 .
“Because if anybody comes in contact with Jason, for me it’s a life-changing moment for a lot of people. The wisdom, the care, the love that he has for each person that he comes across. ” Heyward immediately held stature in the Dodgers clubhouse, and not just by his 6’5, 240-pound frame.