The 2010 decade was filled with many players that would ultimately play their last games with the most successful sporting franchise on the planet. Some of these players would spend most, if not all, of their entire careers in pinstripes like Andy Pettite, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
But several players may have just gone to the Yankees to finish off an amazing career. These are five players who ended their Major League Baseball careers with the Yankees, who were not Yankees for many years, during the 2010s. Next Saturday, there will be five additional players who ended their career with the Yankees during this decade.
Andruw Jones
Jones was a five-time All-Star and a dominant center fielder for over a decade in Atlanta. After playing for the Dodgers, Rangers and White Sox within three years, Jones agreed to play for the Yankees for the 2011 season.
He finished the season with a .247 average, slugging 13 home runs and driving in 33. The Yankees decided to renew his contract for the 2012 season, where he was not able to recreate his previous campaign down the stretch.
Jones had a successful first half of the season but struggled to a .139 average in the final two months of the season. He would finish with 14 home runs but had an average that dipped below .200.
After spending over 15 seasons in the Majors, Jones would play two seasons in Japan before his professional career would come to an end. Throughout his career, he hit 434 home runs and was a 10 time Gold Glove Award winner.
Kevin Youkilis
After spending years playing for the arch-rival Red Sox, Youkilis would find himself playing with many players that formerly despised him, including Joba Chamberlain.
Youkilis was brought in to play third base for the 2013 season, getting a hefty salary of $12 million after Alex Rodriguez would primarily be moved to the designated hitter role.
The three-time All-Star, however, was not able to contribute much to the Yankees. After experiencing a couple of injuries, Youkilis underwent season-ending back surgery on June 11. In only 28 games, he hit two home runs and hit a measly .219.
His playing career did not abruptly end with the Yankees, as he went on to play in Japan for the 2014 season. Youkilis’ MLB career ended with a respectable .281 average with 150 home runs.
Vernon Wells
Along with Youkilis, Wells was brought in for the 2013 season to provide a more veteran presence for the Yankees. The Angels were looking to dump salary, so the Yankees took on his contract, only paying for a third of the $42 million he was owed on the remainder of his deal.
Wells would end up starting at third, second and first base for the first time in his career during his year with the Yankees. However, he was not able to duplicate much success at the plate.
In 130 games, he would hit 11 home runs and drive in 50, but only hit for a .233 average. It would mark the third consecutive year that he would struggle to produce. Coincidentally enough, it was the third year removed from his tenure with the Blue Jays.
In January 2014, Wells would be designated for assignments and would not play for another baseball team. He would finish with a .270 average and 270 home runs, as well as a three-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star.
Brian Roberts
Spending a dozen seasons in Baltimore, Roberts found himself a free agent for the first time in his career following the 2013 season. He had not played in over 100 games since the 2009 season after being riddled with injuries for four seasons and was picked up by the Yankees to play second base.
In only 91 games with the Yankees, Roberts hit .237, slugging five home runs and driving in 21. He would be designated for assignment on Aug. 1 and was released eight days later on Aug. 9.
At the end of the season, Roberts announced his retirement from baseball, citing his reason as “Not being able to play at the level he was accustomed to.” He reportedly received a couple of other offers but declined.
Roberts finished his career as a two-time All-Star, hitting .276 in over 1,400 games played. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
Alfonso Soriano
Soriano broke into the Major Leagues in 1999 as a member of the Yankees, where he would spend his first five seasons. He would be shipped off to Texas before the 2004 season as part of the trade to acquire Alex Rodriguez.
Just under a decade later, Soriano was traded back to the Yankees, where he would ultimately spend his last days as a Major Leaguer.
Soriano may have experienced one of the greatest four-game spirts in MLB history, where he recorded 13 hits and drove in 18 runs. To this day, he is still the only Major League player to accomplish this feat. He would finish the 2013 season with 34 home runs, half of which would come in the 58 games he would play with the Yankees.
The 2014 season was not as kind to Soriano, as he struggled to produce at the plate, hitting a mere .221 with only six home runs. He would retire at the end of the season to focus on his family.
The seven-time All-Star would finish his career with 412 home runs and 2,095 hits in 1,975 games played.
