Amaris Ramirez ends 18-year career

Longtime major league third baseman Aramis Ramirez made his retirement official on Thursday.

Ramirez said before the 2015 season that he expected it to be his last one and he followed through with his plans after 18 years in the major leagues.

The 37-year-old Ramirez called it a career after batting .283 with 386 home runs, 2,303 hits, 495 doubles and 1,417 RBIs in 2,194 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.

The right-handed-hitting Ramirez leaves the game among the top 10 active players in runs, hits, total bases, doubles, homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and number of times reaching base.

His final days were spent with the Pirates, where he returned in a July trade in exchange for Yhonathan Barrios after starting his career in Pittsburgh before moving on to the Cubs and then the Brewers. Ramirez batted .246 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs with the Brewers and Pirates in his last season.

Along the way, Ramirez made three National League All-Stars teams and slugged 25 or more home runs in 10 seasons. He also batted .300 or higher seven times during his career.

As for the future, Ramirez apparently would like to remain involved in the sport in some capacity other than as a coach or manager.