The door may be closed for baseball's greatest closer.
According to ESPNNewYork.com, "New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said closer Mariano Rivera informed him earlier this week that he is unsure if he will play again or retire."
Although no final decision has been made, Buster Olney of ESPN said the possibility of a return is at "50-50".
According to MLB.com, Cashman spoke with Rivera on Tuesday.
"I talked to Mariano Tuesday night, and he is not sure what he's interested in doing just yet," Cashman said to MLB.com. "I think in Spring Training he was intending to retire at the end of the year, so I don't think he knows what he wants to do just yet. Am I surprised by that? No."
Rivera was lost for the season in May after suffering a torn ACL injury while fielding fly balls before a game in Kansas City. Following the injury, Rivera said he would return for the 2013 season.
"I'm coming back," an emotional Rivera said in Kansas City a day after the injury, according to ESPN.com. "Put it down. Write it down in big letters. I ain't going down like this."
When the season starts next year Rivera will be 43-years-old and would be about 10 months removed from the injury. He has rehabbed throughout the season and was on track to make a full recovery. In the past he has weighed options on continuing his career due to his desire to spend more time with his family, but this is the most serious chance of retirement that Rivera has spoken about.
Rivera is considered the greatest closer in baseball history and is one of the most accomplished playoff pitchers of all-time.
Through his 18-year career, he has a regular season ERA of just 1.00 and has amassed 608 saves using primarily the same pitch. What is so amazing about Rivera is that even through all these years, players till cannot figure out how to hit his cut fastball.
In the past he has said his special cut fastball was heaven sent. According to a Sports Illustrated article from 1999, when asked about where the cutter came from, Rivera said: "It was just from God. I didn't do anything. It was natural."
He has a playoff ERA of 0.76 with 42 saves and has been an integral part of five World Series championships with the New York Yankees.
Another issue to consider for Rivera in this situation is his contract. In 2010 he signed a two-year $30 million contract, but after coming back from such a serious injury it is unclear what the Yankees would be willing to pay. Adding another wrinkle to the situation is the plan by the Yankees to bring the payroll down to $189 million for 2014.
"But if you're asking me if I know if he's going to pitch or not, the answer is, I don't know," Cashman said to MLB.com.
During an end-of-season press conference, manager Joe Girardi spoke about the return of Rivera.
"From watching how he rehabbed and everything that he was going through, picked up a baseball sooner than he was supposed to and got his hand smacked a little bit, that would tell me that Mo probably wants to play," Girardi said, according to ESPNNewYork.com. "But in saying that, it's a decision that I think he'll sit down with his family, evaluate where he is maybe a little bit later in this process and how he feels and how his arm feels, to feel like you think you can compete at the same level he's always competed at. But I don't think that you push a rehab like he pushed it unless you think that you possibly have some interest in coming back."
Rivera is the greatest closer in history. Hopefully his last appearance in baseball won't be the image of him writhing in pain on the turf at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
