It’s definitely not abnormal for Major League Baseball to have to handle umpires retiring after the season. But following the 2022 MLB season, the league is facing an absolutely insane number of umpires retiring.
As ESPN reports, ten different MLB umpires, including seven crew chiefs, are preparing to retire from their positions at the end of the month. The huge number of retiring umpires makes it the largest turnover among MLB umpires since back in 1999 – over two decades.
The whole list of retiring umpires are crew chiefs Ted Barrett, Greg Gibson, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds and Bill Welke. Umpires Marty Foster, Paul Nauert and Tim Timmons are also joining them in retirement.
While such a mass exodus of umpires is certainly unusual, ESPN reports that the departures are not related to any potential rule changes coming to Major League Baseball in the future, like the upcoming pitch clock or the chance of an automated balls and strikes system in the future.
To replace the departing umpires, the MLB will promote or hire 10 new umpires next month. And even though ESPN reports that the league is “committed to making it a diverse group,” a first-ever female MLB umpire is not expected to be among them.
[ESPN]