Mariano Rivera talked about the dreaded "R" word in an interview with Kim Jones: retirement. In the euphoria of winning his fifth World Series championship last year, Mo said he wanted to pitch another five years. Now it seems he’s not so sure, with the greatest closer in baseball history at least entertaining the notion of hanging up his pinstripes at the end of this season.
“Maybe it will happen this year, you never know,” he said. “I will think hard about it.”
It would be a devastating loss if Mo chooses to retire. The New York Yankees are completely unprepared for life without Mo. They haven't even figured out who will be his set-up man, let alone who will eventually replace him. So they have to hope that Mo plays a few more years. Yankee fans hope so too.
There's one way to keep Mo around. Joe Girardi can promise him that he will get to play center field. Mo is often called the best center fielder the Yankees have. Shagging fly balls during batting practice is a regular part of his workout routine.
“When we don’t have BP, I’m kind of mean,” Mo jokingly said, adding that playing center field is his one remaining goal and that he is going to ask for the opportunity.
Of course, there's no chance in hell that Girardi would ever risk Mo getting hurt playing in the field, but he can make a deal with him: give me four more years and I'll give you a couple of innings. The only downside is that Mo said that if he ever plays in the field, he would be done the next day. So you have to wait until he has one foot out the door. Hopefully, that day is off in the distant future.
“Maybe it will happen this year, you never know,” he said. “I will think hard about it.”
It would be a devastating loss if Mo chooses to retire. The New York Yankees are completely unprepared for life without Mo. They haven't even figured out who will be his set-up man, let alone who will eventually replace him. So they have to hope that Mo plays a few more years. Yankee fans hope so too.
There's one way to keep Mo around. Joe Girardi can promise him that he will get to play center field. Mo is often called the best center fielder the Yankees have. Shagging fly balls during batting practice is a regular part of his workout routine.
“When we don’t have BP, I’m kind of mean,” Mo jokingly said, adding that playing center field is his one remaining goal and that he is going to ask for the opportunity.
Of course, there's no chance in hell that Girardi would ever risk Mo getting hurt playing in the field, but he can make a deal with him: give me four more years and I'll give you a couple of innings. The only downside is that Mo said that if he ever plays in the field, he would be done the next day. So you have to wait until he has one foot out the door. Hopefully, that day is off in the distant future.
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