One of Kansas City's favorite ballplayers will retire on May 31 as a Kansas City Royal!  According to an article on the Royals website, Mike Moustakas, the team's All-Star third baseman, who helped the Royals regain their relevance in 2013, go to the World Series in 2014, and win the World Series in 2015, will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the team on May 31, 2025 and retire as a Royal.

Here are some photos from the Kansas City Star looking at Mike Moustakas through the years:

Moose's Career

Moustakas had a 13-year career that started in 2011 with the Royals, who drafted him in 2007 out of Chatsworth Charter High School in California. He helped the team regain its footing and live up to decades-long promise that it would be competitive again.

In 2014, Moustakis got hot at the right time, hitting the game-winning home run in game one of the American League Division Series, which started the team's sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. Talk about hot, Moustakis clobbered a few baseballs at the end of 2014.

Not to mention this incredible catch in the American League Championship Series against Baltimore.

2015 was the first year Moustakis was named to the American League All-Star team, and he was part of the core that took the Royals back to the World Series. They beat the Mets in five games to bring the World Series trophy back to Kansas City for the second time in the franchise's history.

Moustakas talks about being named to the All-Star team and thanks Royals fans for helping him get there. This from the Kansas City Star.

Highlights from Moose's 2015 World Series Winning Season.

Moustakas slashed .251/.306/.430 with 139 home runs over parts of eight seasons with the Royals, according to an article on the Royals' website. His 38 home runs in 2017 set a single season club record, which would be broken by Jorge Soler in 2019.

In 2018, the Royals traded Moustakes to the Brewers, and he would then play for the Reds, Rockies, and Angels. According to the Royals, citing Baseball-Reference, he finished his 13-year career with three All-Star appearances, 215 home runs, a .739 OPS, and 13.0 WAR.

One Day Contract & Retirement Ceremony At The K

While Moustakas hasn't played in the majors since 2023, when he split the season with the Rockies and Angels, Moustakas officially announced his retirement this morning, March 3, 2025.

The Royals will sign Moustakas to a ceremonial one-day contract on  Saturday, May 31, 2025. They will then honor his career and World Series-winning time in Kansas City with a pregame ceremony before the Royals play the Detroit Tigers. The game is scheduled to start at 3:10 PM. I'd expect it to be a reunion of the 2015 team, at least those that can make it, to celebrate Moose's career with him!

You can catch the Kansas City Royals all season on 1050 KSIS, Sedalia's News Leader!