Grant Desme, one of the Oakland A’s top prospects, has retired from baseball in order to enter the priesthood.
The A’s confirmed what FOXSports.com first reported Friday morning and will make Desme available to the media later Friday afternoon.
“We respect Grant’s decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors,” said A’s general manager Billy Beane.
Desme, 23, established himself as a potential big-league standout by batting .288 with 31 home runs, 89 RBI and 40 stolen bases in a combined 131 games over two levels of minor-league play this season. He was minor league baseball’s only 30-30 man.
Desme capped off his season by dominating the Arizona Fall League, where many of the game’s top prospects compete in each season. Desme was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Baseball America recently named Desme as the A’s 8th-best prospect. Other publications had the outfielder ranked among the Top 5 of Oakland’s prospects.
Desme was a second-round draft choice by the A’s out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in 2008.
