Andrew Heaney is retiring after 12 Major League seasons, as the 34-year-old southpaw announced via his social media feeds. Heaney finishes his career with a 4.57 ERA over 1136 2/3 innings as a starter and occasional reliever with six different MLB teams, including seven seasons with the Angels.
“I will miss the game greatly, but all of my experiences and the lasting relationships have made me a better person,” Heaney wrote. “The routine of showing up to the yard every day and working to improve each time out has been a driving force for me…I am now ready to return my focus and energy to being a husband, father, family man, and active member of my community. I’m retiring from baseball, but I hope to give back more than I received. Thank you to all of you for the love and support you have given me. Y’all know who you are.”
Heaney spent his final season with the Pirates and Dodgers, posting a 5.52 ERA over 122 1/3 innings. After inking a one-year, $5.25MM deal with Pittsburgh last February, Heaney’s struggles kept him from being dealt at the trade deadline, and the Bucs ended up demoting him to the bullpen and then releasing him entirely at the end of August. The Dodgers brought Heaney back on a minor league deal for what was technically his third stint in the organization, and he appeared in a single big league game in late September but wasn’t included on any of Los Angeles’ postseason rosters.
Selected ninth overall by the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Heaney debuted in the Show in 2014 but was dealt after the season to the Dodgers as part of a major seven-player trade that brought Dee Strange-Gordon to Miami (and Enrique Hernandez and Austin Barnes to Chavez Ravine). The Dodgers then flipped Heaney to the Angels that same day in another trade for Howie Kendrick, which has some historical import as the last time the two Los Angeles clubs engaged in a player-for-player swap.
A Tommy John surgery and some other injuries limited Heaney during his time in Anaheim, but he delivered a 4.51 ERA over 569 1/3 innings his long stretch in an Angels uniform. The tenure ended when Heaney was dealt to the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, and that winter he returned to L.A. for a more proper stint with the Dodgers when he signed a one-year, $8.5MM free agent deal. Injuries were again a factor for Heaney during this year, but he had a 3.10 ERA and a whopping 35.5% strikeout rate over his 72 2/3 frames.
The Oklahoma City native’s next contract brought him a bit closer to home, as Heaney inked a two-year, $25MM deal with the Rangers in the 2022-23 offseason. The deal was a hit for both the pitcher and the team, as Heaney had a 4.22 ERA with Texas while staying generally healthy — his 160 innings in 2024 and 147 1/3 innings in 2023 were the second- and third-highest single-season innings totals of his career. During the 2023 postseason, Heaney had a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings over five games as a starter and reliever, helping the Rangers win the World Series.
Home runs were a constant issue for Heaney throughout his career, and his 199 career homers allowed inflated his ERA and perhaps kept him from breaking through as a front-of-the-rotation arm. Still, Heaney carved out a long and successful career for himself as a starter on the strength of his strikeout ability (23.8% career strikeout rate) and quality control (7% walk rate). Despite his struggles in 2025, it seemed like Heaney still had more in the tank if he’d chosen to continue pitching, and perhaps could’ve reinvented himself as a full-time relief pitcher.
Instead, Heaney has decided to hang up his glove and will now move onto his post-playing endeavors. We at MLB Trade Rumors wish Heaney all the best, and congratulate him on a fine career.