Robert Brooks, a former Blue Jays minor-league catcher, has announced his retirement.

Toronto released him from his minor-league contract in March, closing out a stint that included 109 minor-league games and eight Grapefruit League appearances across two spring trainings.

Brooks wasn't done, though. He signed with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars of the independent Atlantic League and played 114 games, the most of his career.

He slashed .253 with a .371 on-base percentage, 23 home runs, and 84 RBIs in that stretch, a genuinely strong offensive season away from affiliated baseball.

This week, he made it official on Instagram.

"I started playing this game as something to do that my dad and I both enjoyed," Brooks wrote. "I ended up dedicating two decades of my life to you and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. I get to walk away on my terms and I'm very grateful for that."

How his path led through Toronto's system

Brooks played three games at Triple-A within the Blue Jays' system in 2025, spending the bulk of his four-year professional career at the lower minor-league levels.

He originally went undrafted out of Columbus State University in Georgia, signing with the Rays and appearing in nine games in their Florida Complex League that first summer.

Toronto signed him in June 2024 after a strong showing with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League, where he hit .354 with a .646 slugging mark over 27 games.

His limited spring training action with the Blue Jays went well too, going 3-for-6 with a home run and two walks in that small sample.

That success never fully translated once he moved beyond independent ball, but the journey clearly left him with plenty to be grateful for.

"Baseball, thank you," Brooks wrote. "You taught me some lessons I'll never forget and some I'll never understand. You introduced me to some of my best friends and also some of the weirdest dudes."

"You took me to some amazing places, but also had me staying in some of the worst. You had me shaving my face for an entire off season just to make money waiting tables, but also buzz my hair and dye it blonde for some rally home runs."

"You showed me some of the highest highs and also some of the lowest lows in this game. But most importantly, you showed me that hard work pays off."

For a journeyman catcher who never reached the majors, that closing message captures exactly what a career like his represents, years of grinding through independent leagues and minor-league towns for a shot that never fully arrived, walked away from with real gratitude anyway.