Blue Jays' Aumont retires to become farmer
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Phillippe Aumont has retired from Major League Baseball to become a farmer, he announced on CBC Radio's "Ottawa Morning."
Aumont was in Blue Jays camp on a minor-league deal before the pandemic postponed the season in March, but even with MLB clubs preparing for a return on Wednesday, the 31-year-old decided to go a different route with his life.
"There's a meaning to it. I want to touch nature. I want to learn about animals, and growing vegetables and fruit crops. Just the endless possibilities for me on a farm is priceless," Aumont explained of his decision.
"Baseball has been great. Baseball gave me an opportunity to do a lot of things in life, and I'm very thankful. But when the pandemic hit you saw what it caused in our cities. I just felt a need to start something in farming, to just go back to nature and get away from negative stuff. It's something that my future wife and I have talked about a lot - having a farm with chickens and pigs. You name it, we want them all."
The 31-year-old Canadian was selected 11th overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 2007 draft and was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a package for Cliff Lee in 2009.
Aumont showed flashes of success with the Phillies as a reliever in 2012 and 2013, but ultimately wound up playing independent ball last season.
After posting a 2.86 ERA and striking out 145 hitters over 118 2/3 innings as a starter for the Ottawa Champions, Toronto took a flier on the 6-foot-7 hurler.
In three spring innings for the Blue Jays, Aumont had a 9.00 ERA with five strikeouts.