Aaron Judge decided to leave the New York Yankees, and his decision was made with sadness.

A former player for the New York Yankees has formally announced his retirement.

After an outstanding 12-year career, former Yankees reliever Zack Britton is hanging up his cleats, as reported by Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic.

“Zack Britton is officially retiring from baseball after a 12-year big-league career, the 35-year-old pitcher told The Athletic in an exclusive interview earlier this month,” Ghiroli stated. “Britton had three seasons with 30 saves, including an American League-leading campaign in 2016, and he was a two-time All-Star. He played for the Baltimore Orioles for seven and a half seasons before spending the next four and a half with the New York Yankees. With 154 career saves, a 35-26 record, and a 3.13 ERA in 442 games (641 innings), the left-hander wraps up his career.

Britton was perhaps the best reliever in baseball at one point. With the Orioles, he was virtually unhittable. In 2016, he even came in fourth place in the American League Cy Young Award voting, having recorded a pitiful 0.54 ERA in 69 appearances and leading the American League with 47 saves.

In the 2006 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft, Britton was selected by the Orioles in the third round. He eventually made his major league debut in 2011. In the end, he was traded to the Yankees in the 2018 campaign, and he stayed with the team until the 2022 campaign. He had injuries near the end of his career, and in 2021 and 2022 combined, he played in just 25 games for the Yankees. Prior to the 2023 season, he conducted workouts for potential teams in free agency, but he never signed a contract.