Infielder Rigo Terrazas, who showed promise at the low levels of the minor leagues in the New York Mets system before returning to his native Mexico, announced his retirement in an Instagram post June 7.
“Dear baseball, today I say goodbye to you at the professional level,” Terrazas wrote in Spanish. “Thank you so much for giving me the best and worst moments of my life.”
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Candidly, Terrazas wrote that baseball “was always very unjust with me from the beginning of the dream.” He cited injuries that interrupted his progress as he climbed the minor league ladder.
The Mets signed Terrazas as an amateur out of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico in July 2013. After three seasons in the Domincan Summer League, the Mets promoted Terrazas to their Gulf Coast League affiliate ahead of the 2016 season.
Terrazas slashed .220/.280/.253 in his first season of affiliated baseball in the U.S., while seeing time at all four infield positions. That led to a promotion to the Rookie-level Kingsport (Tenn.) Mets for 2017.
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“Our third base position was open and Terrazas came in and really took advantage of the opportunity,” Kingsport manager Luis Rivera told MetsMinors.net in August 2017. “He worked hard and it showed on the field to where he became an everyday player. Because of him taking advantage of the opportunity he has really opened a lot of eyes.”
Terrazas slashed .348/.413/.486 for the season. He was named the Appalachian League Player of the Week on July 30, 2017 and claimed a spot on the league’s All-Star team.
From there, his progress stalled. Terrazas hit .176 in his first season at Class-A ball in 2018. The Mets released him in September of that year.
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Terrazas played another four seasons professionally in Mexico. He last played for the Guerreros de Oaxaca in 2023.
“I’m satisfied with the career I had,” Terrazas wrote on Instagram. “I fulfilled my dream of being signed by a major league team.”
