Retirement for the Big Cat 

Posted 4:16 PM by Sean
Andres Galarraga has announced his retirement after a somewhat poor spring training:

"I just wasn't playing up to the expectations that I have set for myself throughout my entire career, and I wanted to walk away on my own terms," the Venezuelan said. "I owe a lot of gratitude to the Mets organization, especially Omar Minaya, for giving me this chance.

"Playing has been a part of my life for so long, but I just felt this was the right time to give a younger guy a chance to play. I loved my time here with the Mets and I just hope in the future to come back to the organization in some capacity."

Galarraga, of course, hit his 399th home run during the Angels' 10-0 lashing of the A's on October 1. I don't know of any ballplayer more universally regarded as a class act than he; in his case, the 400 HR milestone is genuinely meaningless to how he will be regarded by history.