Former A's top prospect, Dodgers All-Star retires after 12 seasons

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You know Andre Ethier as a two-time All-Star for the Dodgers.

But once upon a time, he was a second-round pick by the A's and developed into one of their better prospects.

On Wednesday, the 36-year-old outfielder announced his retirement from major league baseball. The Dodgers will honor his career with a pregame ceremony on August 3.

Back in 2001, the A's drafted Ethier in the 37th round out of St. Marys High School in Phoenix. Instead of signing, he went to Arizona State, boosted his stock and got drafted again by the A's in 2003. This time, they took him in the second round and he signed for $580,000 according to Baseball America.

By 2005, Ethier had reached Triple-A and was the No. 4 prospect in the A's system according to Baseball America. But in December of 2005, the A's traded him to the Dodgers for veteran outfielder Milton Bradley.

Bradley would end up playing 115 games over the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the A's while Ethier went on to finish fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2006. In 2009, Ethier put together the best season of his career, finishing with 42 doubles, 31 RBI and 106 RBI. Those numbers were good enough for sixth in NL MVP voting that season.

In total, Ethier finished with a .285/.359/.463 line, 303 doubles, 162 home runs and 687 RBI. According to Baseball Reference, Ethier earned just over $115 million during his big league career.

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