Nearly three months after undergoing his second right hip labrum surgery in the last year, Carlos Delgado is finally off crutches and is eyeing a return to action in July, the free agent told Ruben A. Rodriguez at the Puerto Rican paper El Nuevo Dia (link and interview in Spanish). Delgado will travel to Colorado soon to get his doctor's approval before beginning a strengthening program, but insists he isn't "married" to his timeline and won't rush his recovery just to play this summer.
Delgado's name has been bandied as a possible mid-season hired gun for a contender, but the 37-year-old first baseman sounds more humble in the interview, conceding he may find it difficult to convince any teams to sign him following reconstructive surgery and more than a year away from Major League pitching. He declined to mention any specific suitors and seems resigned to taking whatever work he can find, rather than waiting, Jermaine Dye-esque, for the right price or team. "I understand the technical side and I'm willing to deal with that," Delgado told Rodriguez. "It's not like I'll sign and be the cleanup hitter. To get a job you have to go through another process. People have to see me play."
To that end, Delgado said he is open to the possibility of playing during the offseason in Puerto Rico, as he did last winter. Barring all other options, though, he acknowledged that he may have to simply "face reality," a theme which popped up in previous interviews with the Puerto Rican press even prior to his latest operation.
