Willingham announced his retirement from baseball Monday, ESPN reports.

Willingham reportedly received an offer from a contending team to return for the 2015 season, but chose to call it quits instead. The 35-year-old played with five different ball clubs over the course of his career and won a silver slugger award while with the Twins in 2012. Willingham hit .215/.346/.397 with 14 home runs and 40 RBI in 2014 and .253/.358/.397 with 195 home runs and 632 RBI over his 11-year major league career.

Willingham has told people close to him he plans to retire at the end of the season, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Willingham is in the final season of a three-year, $21 contract and will be a free agent this winter. At age 36 next year and having missed close to 40 percent of his team's games the past two years due to injuries, Willingham apparently has decided to call it quits. However, his mind could change if he gets a large free agent offer or has a strong postseason.

Willingham is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.

Willingham started five of six game as the designated hitter from Sept. 6 through Sept. 11, but Sunday's game will mark the third straight contest he has opened on the bench. Norichika Aoki will serve as the Royals' DH Sunday for the second straight day.

Willingham (ribs) is back in the lineup Saturday against the Yankees, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports.

It seems Willingham's rib cage soreness has subsided to a large extent, as manager Ned Yost has signed off on the 35-year-old returning from his six-game absence. Willingham will, however, be restricted to DH duty Saturday against right-hander Brandon McCarthy, suggesting he still may not be quite at 100 percent.

Willingham (ribs) remains out of the lineup Friday.

Friday's absence will mark Willingham's sixth straight, as it seem his rib issue is a bit more serious than initially let on. He took batting practice Tuesday and was reportedly available off the bench, but Willingham did not end up making an appearance during the Rangers series.

Willingham (ribs) took batting practice Tuesday and was available off the bench, the Associated Press reports.

Although he was not used, it sounds like Willingham's return to the lineup is just around the corner. Keep tabs on him prior to Wednesday's game.

Willingham is dealing with soreness in a rib cage muscle and won't swing a bat until Tuesday at the earliest, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports.

There's some concern that Willingham might be dealing with an oblique strain, which would likely sideline him even longer than the injury the Royals believe he's currently dealing with. The team's scarce usage of Willingham after acquiring from the Twins on Aug. 11 has been surprising considering the team gave up a pretty good prospect in Jason Adam to acquire him, and his usage will likely only decline from here. Eric Hosmer returned from the DL on Monday to bump Billy Butler back to DH duties, and an ailing Willingham will have little chance at surpassing the latter on the depth chart.

Willingham is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Twins, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Radio reports.

After he was dropped from the lineup the previous two games, Willingham returned to starting role Tuesday but failed to capitalize on it, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He's slashing a respectable .282/.364/.538 over 13 games with the Royals, but manager Ned Yost still seems hesitant to turn DH duties over to him on a permanent basis. He'll continue to work in a timeshare with Raul Ibanez, who will enter the lineup Wednesday.

Willingham is out of the lineup for a second straight game Monday against the Yankees, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports.

Willingham is 1-for-6 with three strikeouts in his career against Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda, but wouldn't seem significant enough to justify his absence from the lineup. The Royals haven't passed along any word that Willingham is dealing with an injury, so it seems manager Ned Yost simply preferred to roll with Raul Ibanez at DH for the second straight game for reasons unbeknownst to the rest of us.

Willingham out of the lineup Sunday against the Rangers, Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City reports.

Willingham will sit following his first no-hit start since Aug. 14. Raul Ibanez gets the start as the designated hitter and will bat sixth for the Royals on Sunday.

Willingham is out of the lineup Tuesday at Colorado, Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star reports.

Since landing on the Royals last week, Willingham has manned DH, hitting .333/.385/.583 with one homer, five RBI, four runs, and one stolen base in 24 at-bats. However, with nine strikeouts during that stretch, his free-swinging ways haven't been quelled. In any case, the Royals are in a National League park Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning he may contained to pinch appearances until this weekend in Texas.

Willingham went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBI and two runs scored in a victory over the Twins on Sunday.

Willingham, slotting in the sixth spot in the order again, had a productive series against his old team, going 3-for-9 with the homer, two doubles and five RBI. He's now slashing .214/.344/.416 this season.

Willingham is out of the lineup Saturday at Minnesota, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports.

Willingham is sitting for the first time since joining the Royals, handing over DH to Raul Ibanez. In his last six appearances, Willingham has tallied a hit on five occasions, batting .217 (5-for-23) with one homer, five RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.

Willingham went 1-for-4 with three RBI against the Twins on Friday.

It was Willingham's first respectable game since joining the Royals in a trade earlier in the week. It took hitting off his old team to make it a contributing night, but Willingham's bases-clearing double in the fourth inning put the Twins away early. Willingham (.210/.349/.399) won't get full-time at-bats moving forward so he's not to be trusted fully in an everyday lineup.

Manager Ned Yost said that Willingham will serve as the Royals' primary DH until Eric Hosmer (hand) returns to the lineup, Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star reports.

Monday's acquisition of Willingham doesn't address the huge defensive dropoff with Billy Butler at first base instead of Eric Hosmer, but it does at least scrub Raul Ibanez and his sickly .164/.252/.292 season line from the Royals lineup. Willingham made his team debut Tuesday against the Athletics, slotting sixth in the order and collecting a double in his four at-bats.

Willingham was traded to the Royals on Monday for minor-league pitcher Jason Adam.

The Royals acquire a right-handed power bat to face lefties off the bench in September, and most likely DH as long as Eric Hosmer remains out with a hand injury. Hosmer is expected to miss at least two more weeks, which means Billy Butler and Josh Willingham will each play over that stretch, rightly forcing Raul Ibanez out of the lineup. It's been a rough season for Willingham from a batting average standpoint (.210), but he's getting on base at a .345 clip and has 12 home runs in 68 games with Minnesota, so it's a nice pickup for the Royals. Willingham is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.

Willingham is not in Friday's lineup, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

New addition Jordan Schafer will get the start in left field, as the Twins may try to see what they have with the young outfielders rostered around Willingham. This is his second day off in the last three games.

Willingham is out of the lineup for Tuesday's series finale against the Padres, Tyler Mason of FSN North reports.

Willingham will take what is likely a scheduled day off after 11 straight starts. Jordan Schafer will start in his left field in his place and bat ninth for the Twins.

Willingham went 1-for-3 with a walk, a solo home run and a stolen base in Wednesday's loss to the Royals.

He took Danny Duffy deep for his 11th home run in the second inning to get the Twins on the board and swiped his first base of the season in the fourth inning on a double steal. Willingham has a nice little five-game hitting streak going on right now during which he's gone 6-for-14 with two home runs, four runs scored, and three RBI. The 35-year-old outfielder is batting just .223, but he's got a respectable .366 on-base percentage to go along with 11 home runs, 31 runs scored, and 31 RBI in 188 at-bats.

A source tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that it appears Josh Willingham is "staying put" with the Twins through the trade deadline.

Berardino also notes that a deal during the August waiver trading period is still a possibility. The outfielder is hitting .225/.367/.439 this year. A report from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick earlier Wednesday said the club is hopeful to move Willingham this season.