San Francisco Giants' Bruce Bochy to retire after 2019 season

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Francisco Giants say that manager Bruce Bochy will be retiring after the 2019 season.

Bochy turns 64 in April. He's had some health issues, getting hip replacement surgery in the off season, but he says he's feeling great and that wasn't a factor in his decision.

He broke the news to his players as they met up for the first full squad workout of Spring Training, and he spoke on KNBR just a couple hours ago.

"I try to keep them from having to deal with distractions, I don't want that going on all year. So I said, you know what, I'm going to get it out there, put it behind us and get focused on baseball," Bochy said.

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Bochy came to San Francisco in 2007. He led the team to three World Series championships in five years.

Bochy says he intends to stay in baseball. He and Larry Baer are discussing possible positions. He tweeted this afternoon saying, "Ever since I moved to San Francisco in 2007, the city and our awesome fans have embraced me. I'm going to miss it, but I'm so grateful for the last 12 years and am looking forward to finishing strong this season."

Giants CEO Larry Baer released a statement saying, "Words cannot adequately express the amount of admiration, gratitude and respect the Giants family has for Bruce Bochy. His honesty, integrity, passion and brilliance led to the most successful period of Giants baseball in the history of our franchise."

He says the team will honor Bochy throughout this final season in San Francisco.

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