CHICAGO — Anthony Rizzo is formally retiring as a player and rejoining the Chicago Cubs as an ambassador, the club announced Wednesday, a goodwill gesture that will bring the 2016 World Series champion back to Wrigley Field.
Now 36 years old, Rizzo grew up personally and professionally in Chicago, where the first baseman became a leader of the team that ended a century-plus championship drought, as well as the driving force behind a foundation that raised millions of dollars for cancer research and assistance for young families dealing with those health issues.
Over 10 seasons with the Cubs, Rizzo earned three All-Star selections, four Gold Gloves and the 2017 Roberto Clemente Award, a prestigious honor that recognizes community involvement and philanthropic contributions.
That charitable foundation became a personal mission for Rizzo, who had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a Boston Red Sox prospect, part of the long journey that ultimately made him one of Chicago’s most popular athletes.
“Anthony Rizzo was the face of one of the most successful eras in Chicago Cubs history,” executive chairman Tom Ricketts said in a news release. “We are so excited he will be a part of our organization for many years to come.”
A career for the history books. pic.twitter.com/lcS23j6ZAl
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 10, 2025
Success was not guaranteed when Rizzo debuted with the Cubs on June 26, 2012. The club’s top baseball executives at that time — Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod — had known Rizzo as a Red Sox prospect and worked on two separate deals that eventually brought him to Chicago.
The Red Sox traded Rizzo to the Padres for Adrián González, and he hit .141 with one home run in 49 games with San Diego in 2011. Following that season, Epstein and Hoyer left their respective top jobs with the Red Sox and Padres to take on a bigger challenge at Wrigley Field. Acquiring Rizzo that winter became a priority.
By giving up young pitcher Andrew Cashner, the Cubs got a foundational player who helped push them toward five playoff appearances between 2015 and 2020, delivering an on-field product that lined up with the $1 billion Wrigleyville redevelopment.
In 2013, Rizzo signed what turned out to be a team-friendly contract extension. The final club option was for 2021, at which point Hoyer had replaced Epstein as the president of baseball operations. With the major-league club flailing that summer, and no momentum toward another deal, Hoyer traded Rizzo to the New York Yankees as part of a massive sell-off at the 2021 deadline.
Rizzo spent parts of four seasons with the Yankees, including last year’s run to the World Series.
Rizzo will be back at the Friendly Confines for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He joins a rotation of team ambassadors that includes Billy Williams, Andre Dawson, Fergie Jenkins, Lee Smith, Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster and Ben Zobrist.
“Anthony’s professional career on the field might be complete, but it will be great to share this next chapter with him here with the Cubs,” Ricketts said. “On behalf of the Cubs organization, we all congratulate Anthony for a memorable and successful playing career. We know the best is yet to come for him, his wife, Emily, and their family. We look forward to their rejoining our Cubs family as we create new memories for fans.”
(Photo of Rizzo after hitting a homer in July 2021: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
