Dan McLaughlin said on the Cardinals' television broadcast Wednesday that Rick Ankiel has retired from baseball. Ankiel said as recently as February that he was open to playing in 2014 if the right situation came along, but he has apparently given up on the idea of a comeback and is now aiming to join a team's front office in some capacity. His once-promising career as a pitcher fizzled out due to extreme control problems, but he still made his mark as a hitter for a brief stretch, which is quite a testament to his talent.