Whit Merrifield is retiring after a nine-season career that included twice leading the MLB in hits and three trips to the All-Star Game.
The 36-year-old posted on social media that the birth of his daughter last year played a role in the decision. Merrifield, a utilityman whose career began with Kansas City, was granted free agency after finishing last season with Atlanta. He didn't play in 2025.
“At this point in my life, I'd much rather chase around a toddler than chase sliders,” wrote Merrifield, who had 192 hits for the Royals in 2018 and led the majors again a year later with 206.
Merrifield played his last game with the Braves on Sept. 30, 2024, when they had to play a Monday doubleheader against the New York Mets to settle the National League wild-card race. Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene had rained out both games in Atlanta a week earlier.
The Mets clinched a wild card with a victory in Game 1, which Merrifield played. He sat for the second game, which the Braves won to move on to the postseason as well.
Merrifield was a ninth-round pick by Kansas City in the 2010 amateur draft and made his debut with the Royals six years later, the season after the club won its first World Series in 30 years.
Merrifield played in every game from 2019-21, which included the 2020 season shortened to 60 games by the pandemic.
The Royals didn't make the playoffs in any of Merrifield's six full seasons, and he was traded to Toronto in 2022. He went to the postseason twice with the Blue Jays, but wasn't a regular in the lineup.
Merrifield led the majors in stolen bases three times, including a career-high 45 in 2018. He hit .280 with 94 homers, 485 RBIs, 29 triples and 218 steals in 1,147 games.
The last All-Star trip for Merrifield came in 2023 with Toronto, and he signed as a free agent with Philadelphia that next offseason. The Phillies released Merrifield last July, and the South Carolina native signed with the Braves.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - Philadelphia Phillies' Whit Merrifield celebrates with teammates after scoring during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Feb. 28, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the U.S. military said, as the Trump administration targets sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader effort to take control of the South American country's oil.
The predawn raid was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, part of the extensive force the U.S. has built up in the Caribbean in recent months, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the tanker called the Olina. The Coast Guard then took control of the vessel, officials said.
Southern Command and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both posted unclassified footage on social media Friday morning of a U.S. helicopter landing on the vessel and U.S. personnel conducting a search of the deck and tossing what appeared to be an explosive device in front of a door leading to inside the ship.
In her post, Noem said the ship was “another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and it had departed Venezuela “attempting to evade U.S. forces."
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
In a post on his social media network later in the day, Trump said the seizure was conducted “in coordination with the Interim Authorities of Venezuela” but offered no elaboration.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for more details.
Venezuela’s government acknowledged in a statement that it was working with U.S. authorities to return the tanker, “which set sail without payment or authorization from the Venezuelan authorities,” to the South American nation.
“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for its protection and relevant actions,” according to the statement.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships from conducting trade. The Olina was among that flotilla.
U.S. government records show that the Olina was sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M, and flagged in Panama.
While records show the Olina is now flying the flag of Timor-Leste, it is listed in the international shipping registry as having a false flag, meaning the registration it is claiming is not valid. In July, the owner and manager of the ship on its registration was changed to a company in Hong Kong.
According to ship tracking databases, the Olina last transmitted its location in November in the Caribbean, north of the Venezuelan coast. Since then, however, the ship has been running dark with its location beacon turned off.
While Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law, other officials in the Trump administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela's battered oil industry and restore its economy.
In an early morning social media post, Trump said the U.S. and Venezuela “are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”
The administration said it expects to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil, with the proceeds to go to both the U.S. and Venezuelan people. But the president expects the arrangement to continue indefinitely. He met Friday with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution.
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News this week that the U.S. can “control” Venezuela’s “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold.
Madani estimated that the Olina is loaded with 707,000 barrels of oil, which at the current market price of about $60 a barrel would be worth more than $42 million.
Associated Press writers Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Josh Boak in Washington, and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
FILE - Evana, an oil tanker, is docked at El Palito Port in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Dec. 21, 2025. The U.S. military says U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The Olina is the fifth tanker seized by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
