If you still consider him active, Rich Hill is the oldest active Major League Baseball player. He was 45 when he pitched for the Royals last year, and he hasn’t yet announced his retirement. He’s played only six games the last two years, but would you really be surprised if some random team picks him up for a spot appearance in 2026?
A player hanging around baseball into his 40s isn’t that uncommon. Jesse Chavez and Charlie Morton finally hung ‘em up last year, but Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer and Justin Turner are all theoretically looking to come back in 2026 as 40-plus-year-olds.
The thing about all of them, though, is that they have bounced around. Hill has played for 14 teams, not repeating a team in consecutive years since 2016-2019. Chavez, nine (including approximately 27 different stints with the Braves). Morton, seven. Verlander, four. Scherzer, seven. Turner, seven, including four in the last three years.
So playing a long time isn’t that remarkable. But playing a long time for one team? These days, that’s kind of wild. The days of guys like Stan Musial playing over 3,000 games for a single game are gone, with free agency and the like making it easier for teams to bounce around. So players who make it a long time with a single franchise stand out.
Look at it by days: 1,000 days is just under three years. That’s not even a remarkable time to stay with a team. 2,000 days is about 5.5 years. That’s cool, but still not exactly raising eyebrows.
But 3,000 days? That’s more than eight seasons with a single franchise. That’s interesting. That’s notable. That means a player has been with his franchise — major leagues or minor — since late September 2017. Sam Basallo, who debuted for the Orioles last year, had barely turned 13 when some of these players were joining their current team.
As I write this, there are, as it happens, exactly 100 players who have spent at least 3,000 days with their current franchise. Let’s look at them. But first, let’s look at the six current members of the 5,000-day club, the guys who have spent nearly 14 full seasons with their current franchise.
(This includes time spent in the minor leagues, as well as times if a player reached free agency before ultimately re-signing.)
The Longest-Tenured Players in Baseball
Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals
Joined team: Sept. 27, 2006
Days with franchise: 7,015
The captain and face of the Royals franchise for a while now, Perez is the last link to the World Series teams of 2014-2015. And he’s not great anymore, but he’s still good enough — a .446 slugging percentage last year primarily as a catcher.
Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros
Joined team: March 6, 2007
Days with franchise: 6,855
Like Perez, Altuve is probably coming down the home stretch — his OPS+ has dropped from 161 to 151 to 124 to 112 the last four years — but he’s the heart of a franchise that has lost most of its World Series members in recent years.
Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 28: Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout (27) swings during an MLB baseball game against the Minnesota Twins on April 28, 2024 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire)
Joined team: June 9, 2009
Days with franchise: 6,028=9
You probably guessed this one. Injuries have ruined the back half of Trout’s career, but he’ll be shooting into the Hall of Fame five years after he hangs them up, and it increasingly looks like it’ll be as a career Angel.
Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians
Joined team: Nov. 26, 2009
Days with franchise: 5,859
When I idly think of Jose Ramirez, part of my brain still thinks he’s an up-and-comer. But no, he’s 33 now, and has eight top-10 MVP finishes in the last nine years. He’s never won one, but … there’s been no single player more valuable to a contending franchise than him the last generation of baseball.
Antonio Senzatela, P, Colorado Rockies
Joined team: July 8, 2011
Days with franchise: 5,270
I bet you didn’t think of this one. Senzatela joined the Rockies as an amateur free agent in July of 2011, at age 16, but he didn’t debut in Colorado until 2017. He was fine enough early in his career, but he’s gone 7-24 with 0.1 bWAR and a 5.98 ERA the last four years, and he’s under contract one more year.
Ranger Suárez, P, Philadelphia Phillies
Joined team: April 1, 2012
Days with franchise: 5,002
Between me writing this and it publishing, this one could be dead, as Suárez is a free agent and not really expected to be back with Philadelphia. But after some fits and starts to open his career — when 2021 started, he was a 25-year-old reliever with 0.1 career bWAR in three years — Suárez has become a borderline star as part of one of the game’s best pitching staffs.
And now, with that done, let’s run through all 30 teams and highlight every player who is a member of each team’s 3,000-Day Club.
The 3,000-Day Club for Each Team
How They Got There
Just because I thought it was interesting, let’s look at how the members of the 3,000-day club got to their teams:
This makes sense, right? You’d expect amateur (international) free agents to lead the list, because they are predominantly signed younger. Then it’s drafted players. Then some trades, particularly young guys who were the prospect acquired in a trade for a veteran. Then free agents, which are rare because guys don’t usually reach free agency until they’re too old to spend 3,000 days with their new club. And then there’s one single undrafted free agent, because … well, there are very few UDFAs who ever do anything in baseball, that’s not how the game works.
On to the teams.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Kevin Ginkel, P (Drafted June 11, 2016 — 3,470 days)
Geraldo Perdomo, SS (Amateur FA July 2, 2016 — 3,449 days)
Ketel Marte, 2B (Trade Nov. 23, 2016 — 3,305 days)
Pavin Smith, 1B (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Jorge Barrosa, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Kristian Robinson, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
We’ve got an elite middle infield, a very good reliever, a decent corner bat … and then one guy (Barrosa) who has barely played in the bigs and another (Robinson) who hasn’t yet sniffed the Diamondbacks’ 26-man roster.
Atlanta Braves
Ozzie Albies, 2B (Amateur FA July 2, 2013 — 4,545 days)
Ronald Acuña Jr., OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2014 — 4,120 days)
Austin Riley, 3B (Drafted June 8, 2015 — 3,839 days)
Daysbel Hernández, P (Amateur FA Sept. 14, 2017 — 3,010 days)
ATLANTA, GA Ð MAY 20: Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) scores a run during the first game of a MLB doubleheader between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves on May 20th, 2024 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)
Riley and Albies both had maybe their worst seasons in 2025, and while Acuña is still great, injuries are an issue. This would have been seen as maybe the best foundation in the sport two years ago.
Baltimore Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle, 1B (Drafted June 8, 2015 — 3,839 days)
Keegan Akin, P (Drafted June 9, 2016 — 3,472 days)
Félix Bautista, P (Free Agent Aug. 4, 2016 — 3,416 days)
It’s very possible only one of this list even plays for the Orioles in 2026, with Mountcastle potentially on the way out after the Pete Alonso signing and Bautista likely to miss the whole season after a torn rotator cuff. Akin’s still there, though.
Boston Red Sox
Tanner Houck, P (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Kutter Crawford, P (Drafted June 14, 2017 — 3,102 days)
Ceddanne Rafaela, 2B (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Brayan Bello, P (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
That’s two members of the Red Sox current rotation, plus another guy who would be in the rotation if not for his Tommy John surgery. And then it’s the team’s likely opening day second baseman. Basically, the Red Sox really jump-started their drive to the current contending roster in the summer of 2017.
Chicago Cubs
Justin Steele, P (Drafted June 6, 2015 — 3,841 days)
Ian Happ, OF (Drafted June 8, 2015 — 3,839 days)
Miguel Amaya, C (Amateur FA July 17, 2015 — 3,800 days)
Javier Assad, P (Amateur FA July 27, 2015 — 3,790 days)
Steele and Happ are the mainstays in Chicago, even with Steele missing most of last year to injury. But this is Happ’s category right now — Steele, Amaya and Assad combined for 40 games last year.
Chicago White Sox
Lenyn Sosa, 2B (Amateur FA July 2, 2016 — 3,449 days)
Luis Robert Jr., OF (Amateur FA May 27, 2017 — 3,120 days)
Sosa is aggressively just a guy, an 84 OPS+ and -0.9 bWAR in four seasons. Robert is more interesting — he was a stud in 2023 and then has spent the last two years opening to horrific slumps and then closing competently, which has led to “He’s a trade target!” to “Oh wait, he sucks,” to “Well, the trade deadline passed and he’s decent again.” But for now, he’s still on the team.
Cincinnati Reds
Tyler Stephenson, C (Drafted June 8, 2015 — 3,839 days)
Tony Santillan, P (Drafted June 8, 2015 — 3,839 days)
TJ Friedl, OF (Undrafted free agent Aug. 4, 2016 — 3,416 days)
Hunter Greene, P (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Greene is the star, the first overall pick in 2017, but Friedl is the interesting one here. He was draft eligible in 2016, but not only did a lot of teams not realize it, Friedl himself didn’t realize it. It was a weird quirk of his college tenure, and it led to him going undrafted and then signing the biggest undrafted free agent contract ever a few weeks later.
Cleveland Guardians
Jose Ramirez, 3B (Amateur FA Nov. 26, 2009 — 5,859 days)
Johnathan Rodríguez, OF (Drafted June 13, 2017 — 3,103 days)
George Valera, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Brayan Rocchio, SS (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Jhonkensy Noel, OF (Amateur FA July 15, 2017 — 3,071 days)
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 23: Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) doubles to right during the eighth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians on August 23, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)
If you can spell all of these names right on your first try, you are probably the guy who fills out the lineup card in Cleveland.
Colorado Rockies
Antonio Senzatela, P (Amateur FA July 8, 2011 — 5,270 days)
Kyle Freeland, P (Drafted June 5, 2014 — 4,207 days)
Germán Márquez, P (Trade Jan. 28, 2016 — 3,605 days)
Juan Mejia, P (Amateur FA May 5, 2017 — 3,142 days)
Brayan Castillo, P (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Ezequiel Tovar, SS (Amateur FA Aug. 1, 2017 — 3,054 days)
We discussed Senzatela above, but Freeland and Márquez are also guys who landed with Colorado and have pitched — generally poorly — ever since. That tells you more about the Rockies’ front office than it does about those pitchers, unfortunately.
Detroit Tigers
Wenceel Pérez, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2016 — 3,449 days)
Keider Montero, P (Amateur FA Aug. 25, 2016 — 3,395 days)
Marco Jimenez, P (Amateur FA Sept. 30, 2016 — 3,359 days)
Jake Rogers, C (Trade Aug. 31, 2017 — 3,024 days)
Rogers has turned out to be the prize of the trade that originally sent Justin Verlander to Houston in 2017. And the dude really just can’t hit, so the trade didn’t work out.
Houston Astros
Jose Altuve, 2B (Amateur FA March 6, 2007 — 6,855 days)
Lance McCullers Jr., P (Drafted June 4, 2012 — 4,573 days)
Bryan Abreu, P (Amateur FA Nov. 11, 2013 — 4,413 days)
Cristian Javier, P (Amateur FA March 8, 2015 — 3,921 days)
Framber Valdez, P (Amateur FA March 9, 2015 — 3,920 days)
Ronel Blanco, P (Amateur FA April 27, 2016 — 3,515 days)
Yordan Alvarez, DH (Trade Aug. 1, 2016 — 3,419 days)
Jake Meyers, OF (Drafted June 14, 2017 — 3,102 days)
Like the Rockies, the Astros added a bunch of pitchers a long time ago and just kept them. Unlike the Rockies, the Astros’ guys are actually good.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – OCTOBER 08: Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) at bat during Game 4 of the ALDS between the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays on October 8, 2019 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire)
Also, Yordan Alvarez is the other part of a good “Astros/Dodgers square” answer in Immaculate Grid. Josh Fields trade, y’all.
Kansas City Royals
Salvador Perez, C (Amateur FA Sept. 27, 2006 — 7,015 days)
Angel Zerpa, P (Amateur FA July 26, 2016 — 3,425 days)
Maikel Garcia, 3B (Amateur FA July 27, 2016 — 3,424 days)
The Royals originally signed Garcia in 2016, but he didn’t debut until 2022, and he didn’t get good until last year, when he improved his OPS from .614 to .800 and got a smattering of MVP votes.
Los Angeles Angels
Mike Trout, OF (Drafted June 9, 2009 — 6,029 days)
Jo Adell, OF (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
A handful of teams only have two 3,000-Day Club members. But Trout and Adell are the only two Angels who are even in the 2,500-Day Club. This team is so long-tenure-averse that literally Anthony Rendon is one of the longest-tenured Angels.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Will Smith, C (Drafted June 9, 2016 — 3,472 days)
Max Muncy, 3B (Free Agent April 27, 2017 — 3,150 days)
For all the success the Dodgers have had, the retirement of Clayton Kershaw has them with not many home-grown contributors. It’s really just Smith, and I guess they get credit for picking Muncy up off the scrap heap.
Miami Marlins
Edward Cabrera, P (Amateur FA July 2, 2015 — 3,815 days)
Braxton Garrett, P (Drafted June 6, 2016 — 3,472 days)
Garrett missed most of 2024 and all of 2025, but he’s still around as he recovers from UCL surgery. Meanwhile, Cabrera is coming off his best year.
Milwaukee Brewers
Brandon Woodruff, P (Drafted June 7, 2014 — 4,205 days)
Freddy Peralta, P (Trade Dec. 9, 2015 — 3,655 days)
Two-thirds of a rotation that was one of the best in baseball for a while, Woodruff and Peralta have been Brewers for a long time, though it’s coming down the home stretch. Woodruff accepted the qualifying offer for 2026, so he’ll apparently get one more year. And the Brewers picked up Peralta’s option, but he’s still a hot conversation on the trade market.
Minnesota Twins
Byron Buxton, OF (Drafted June 4, 2012 — 4,573 days)
Royce Lewis, 3B (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Bailey Ober, P (Drafted June 14, 2017 — 3,102 days)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 25: Minnesota Twins Outfield Byron Buxton (25) makes contact during a game between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays on September 25, 2021, at Target Field in Minneapolis, MN.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)
Ober and Lewis struggled through their worst seasons in 2025. But Buxton went the other way, putting up one of his best campaigns and topping 102 games played for only the second time in his career, first since 2017. But with the Twins rebuilding, how many return for 2026?
New York Mets
Jeff McNeil, 2B (Drafted June 8, 2013 — 4,569 days)
Mark Vientos, 3B (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
David Peterson, P (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Ronny Mauricio, SS (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
The Mets have cycled through in-house middle infielders and third basemen for a while now, and they haven’t landed on one. McNeil had his moments, especially in 2022, but he’s not the hitter he once was. And Vientos, Mauricio, Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuña … they haven’t come through yet. Explains why the team adds guys like Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien.
New York Yankees
Aaron Judge, OF (Drafted June 6, 2013 — 4,571 days)
Luis Gil, P (Trade Feb. 2, 2015 — 3,955 days)
Oswaldo Cabrera, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2015 — 3,815 days)
Clarke Schmidt, P (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
One of the downsides of being a good team for so long like the Yankees have been is that you get worse bites at the apple in the draft. Sure, everyone (generally) gets a first-round pick, but “third overall” is a much easier place to find success than “30th.” Just look at the Yankees’ recent history of first-round picks — unless you’re really feeling Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, Judge is their only truly home run first-round pick since Derek Jeter.
Philadelphia Phillies
Ranger Suárez, P (Amateur FA April 1, 2012—5,002 days)
Aaron Nola, P (Drafted June 5, 2014 — 4,207 days)
Rafael Marchán, C (Amateur FA July 3, 2015 — 3,815 days)
Nola is coming off his worst season, but with Suárez likely to leave and Zack Wheeler maybe never able to pitch again, the Phillies will be asking Nola to rebound and at least post a positive WAR. His more recent struggles make it easy to forget that he was incredible for a while, with a 9.7 bWAR and a 17-6 record in 2018.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Mitch Keller, P (Drafted June 5, 2014 — 4,207 days)
Oneil Cruz, OF (Trade Jule 31, 2017 — 3,055 days)
Maybe Oneil Cruz hasn’t become the star it looked like he might be for a while, but the Pirates got him for Tony Watson, who spent only a couple months with the Dodgers, so we can call that a good return. Meanwhile, Mitch Keller has been a perfectly fine No. 3 starter who was miscast as Pittsburgh’s ace for years before Paul Skenes came along.
Sacramento Athletics
None
The Athletics have six members of the 2,700-Day Club — Lawrence Butler, Hogan Harris, Jeremy Eierman, Chase Cohen, Max Schuemann, Brayan Buelvas — but zero members of the 2,800 Day Club. They found a bunch of guys in the summer of 2018 that they’ve held on to since then, but Butler is the only one who has been a true success, and even he saw some big regression last year.
San Diego Padres
Fernando Tatis Jr., OF (Trade June 4, 2016 — 3,477 days)
Adrian Morejon, P (Amateur FA July 7, 2016 — 3,444 days)
Tirso Ornelas, OF (Amateur FA March 31, 2017 — 3,177 days)
Luis Campusano, C (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JUNE 19: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres at bat during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 19, 2024 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)
It’s funny how certain trades stick in the collective consciousness and others don’t. Everyone remembers James Shields for Fernando Tatis Jr. or Larry Andersen for Jeff Bagwell, but who remembers Marcell Ozuna for Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen or, to summon back a few entries, Josh Fields for Yordan Alvarez?
Seattle Mariners
Julio Rodríguez, OF (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
After his first two seasons, Rodríguez looked to be on a rocket ship to superstardom. He had a Rookie of the Year and two top-seven MVP finishes. He’s still one of the best players in baseball and only 24 and just had his best season (by bWAR), but he hasn’t really built on that start. So far, he’s been a top-20 player, not a top-five one.
San Francisco Giants
Logan Webb, P (Drafted June 6, 2014 — 4,204 days)
Heliot Ramos, OF (Drafted June 12, 2017 — 3,104 days)
Randy Rodríguez, P (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Juan Sánchez, P (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
You see a guy like Sánchez who signed more than eight years ago, who has played his way up to AAA and is still young for his level, who has decent (not great, but decent) minor league stats at most of his stops, and who still hasn’t sniffed the big leagues, and you wonder. Do people int heir lives tell them to give up? Do they tell them being a career minor leaguer is prestigious? I mean, I’d love it, but it’s not like he’s getting rich. And he’s done it all in one organization.
Meanwhile, Logan Webb has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for four years, yet he was No. 56 in starting pitcher salary in 2025. How can that be profitable for Frito-Lay?
St. Louis Cardinals
Iván Herrera, C (Amateur FA July 7, 2016 — 3,444 days)
Yadier Molina was the Cardinals catcher from 2004 to 2022, when he retired. Herrera has been there since Molina’s last season. The odds are enormously stacked against it, especially given Herrera’s injury history, but it would be very funny in a Brett Favre-to-Aaron Rodgers sense if he’s the catcher in St. Louis until, like, 2040.
Tampa Bay Rays
Brandon Lowe, 2B (Drafted June 9, 2015 — 3,838 days)
Jonathan Aranda, 1B (Amateur FA July 2, 2015 — 3,815 days)
Josh Lowe, OF (Drafted June 7, 2016 — 3,472 days)
Taylor Walls, SS (Drafted June 13, 2017 — 3,103 days)
Wander Franco, SS (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
The Rays, famous for cycling through players until they get expensive and then dumping them, for pumping-and-dumping options at the regular, actually got nearly half of their regular position players close to a decade ago and are just holding them. It’s fascinating.
(I almost didn’t include Wander Franco in this, because you know why. But he is technically still on the roster, and … I wanted 100 names. Sue me.)
Texas Rangers
Jacob Latz, P (Drafted June 13, 2017 — 3,103 days)
Keyber Rodriguez, SS (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
Speaking as a Rangers fan — the 2023 World Series title was great. And I have no issue with any team — like those Rangers, like the Dodgers — using whatever resources at its disposal to build a champion roster. Home-grown players, free agents, whatever. I’ll never look back at that title with anything less than fond memories. That said … it’s a little sad that the team doesn’t have any legacy players. The 2023 Rangers were one of my favorite Rangers teams. But the Michael Young-Ian Kinsler-Elvis Andrus-Adrian Beltre era of the team was my favorite roster, because of the continuity.
Toronto Blue Jays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B (Amateur FA July 2, 2015 — 3,815 days)
Bo Bichette, SS (Drafted June 9, 2016 — 3,472 days)
Alejandro Kirk, C (Amateur FA Sept. 24, 2016 — 3,365 days)
Davis Schneider, (Drafted June 14, 2017 — 3,102 days)
Leo Jimenez, (Amateur FA July 2, 2017 — 3,084 days)
TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 16: Toronto Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette (11) is seen running in the bottom of the sixth inning of an MLB game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays on August 16, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire)
I don’t know if the Blue Jays’ spending spree so far this offseason makes it more or less likely that Bo Bichette re-ups. Is it more likely, because they’re clearly willing to spend? Or is it less likely, because the money they have to spend is going to so many other places? I guess we’ll see (and maybe soon?), but what I do know is that there is a small part of me that will be sad if he and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. aren’t teammates anymore.
Washington Nationals
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B (Amateur FA July 2, 2016 — 3,448 days)
Garcia is still 25 until a month into next season, and he’s only had one season worth more than 1 bWAR. Despite that, he’s kind of the grizzled vet in Washington, given Harry Ford is threatening Keibert Ruiz’s job and MacKenzie Gore might get dealt this offseason.