After retiring from professional baseball, he briefly served as a special assistant in the Pittsburgh Pirates operations department.

[5] Eckstein spent the rest of the 2000 season with the Angels Triple-A affiliate, the Edmonton Trappers, where he hit .346 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs in just 15 games.

He made his major league debut on April 3, 2001, against the Texas Rangers, where he was the starter at second base and went 1 for 3, with his first hit coming against Kenny Rogers.

Through his first month in the MLB, Eckstein appeared in 28 of the Angels' 31 games, and batted .318 with 1 home run, which eventually earned him the full-time starting job at shortstop,[6] which he held for the remainder of the season.

He finished fourth in American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award voting, behind Ichiro Suzuki, C.C.

At the end of the 2004 season, Eckstein was part of a "shortstop merry-go-round," in which three free agent shortstops swapped teams: Édgar Rentería went from the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox, Orlando Cabrera went from the Red Sox to the Angels, and Eckstein went from the Angels to the Cardinals.

He was voted to the National League All-Star team in 2005, along with teammates Chris Carpenter, Albert Pujols, Jason Isringhausen, and Jim Edmonds.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Eckstein was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation.

Eckstein was brought back in front of over 47,000 fans to throw out the first pitch of Game 6 of the World Series in St. Louis on October 27, 2011.

[20] On January 15, 2009, he signed a discounted one-year contract with the San Diego Padres on the condition that he would play primarily second base.

He married actress Ashley Drane on November 26, 2005, at his family church in Sanford, followed by a reception at Walt Disney World.

[27] He is a fan of professional wrestling, having made public appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during the 2006 World Series and on February 11, 2007, he co-managed (along with Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Johnny Damon) TNA wrestler Lance Hoyt for his match with current White Sox conditioning coach Dale Torborg, managed by Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski at TNA's Against All Odds pay-per-view.