Mike Mayers, a relief pitcher who played in parts of eight MLB seasons from 2016 to 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, and Kansas City Royals, announced his retirement from professional baseball on Wednesday via LinkedIn. “After 12 amazing years in pro baseball, including eight seasons in the majors with the Cardinals, Angels, and Royals, I’ve officially decided to hang up my cleats,” Mayers wrote.
Mayers spent the 2024 season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. He appeared in 31 games (three of them starts), posting a 2-5 record and a 6.10 ERA. He was released by the Blue Jays on August 2, 2024, and did not sign with another affiliated team for the 2025 season.
In his final MLB season in 2023, Mayers pitched in six games for the Royals, going 1-2 with a 6.15 ERA. He gave up 19 runs (18 earned) and 34 hits over 26.1 innings. Kansas City designated him for assignment in June 2023, and he was later traded to the Chicago White Sox, finishing the year with their Triple-A team.
Mayers’ journey came full circle a decade after being drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Ole Miss. Between 2016 and 2019, he moved between the majors and minors, appearing in 73 games for St. Louis—72 of them out of the bullpen—posting a 3-3 record and a 7.03 ERA. The Cardinals placed him on waivers in November 2019, and he was picked up by the Angels.
During the shortened 2020 season, Mayers was one of the Angels’ top relievers, leading the team with 29 appearances and 30 innings while recording an impressive 2.10 ERA and 43 strikeouts. He followed up with a strong 2021 campaign, appearing in a career-high 72 games and finishing with a 3.84 ERA and 90 strikeouts over 75 innings.
However, 2022 marked a decline in performance. Mayers struggled, recording a 5.68 ERA across 24 games (three of them starts), and his strikeout rate dipped. The Angels designated him for assignment twice that year. He became a free agent after 2023 and signed with the Royals that December.
Mayers ends his MLB career with a 12-11 record and a 5.21 ERA.