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.
Sounds like a fit for the M’s at DH.
you already got 150,000,00 dollars in the bank, why do you want to keep going..it’s painful seeing some of the stars you grew up watching becoming washed up DH’s
Maybe they actually like to play baseball. Shocking, I know.
no, i kinda came off the wrong way their. but if delgado is already 38 and just had his 2nd operation on his hip and even before that, had limited mobility, what value could he seriously have….
Hard to say. He did post .914 OPS in limited playing time last year with the Mets, so perhaps he still has something left in the tank.
If guys like Dye and Sheffield, who all had healthy years last year and played the field can’t even get DH jobs, I doubt Delgado will. I have no problem with it if he doesn’t come to the NL East lol. Believe me, I like all the players, and I would give any of them jobs, at least a bench role. I don’t know what GM’s are thinking. Any of these guys could be signed for a max of $1 million.
Sheff seems a little washed up to me. Dye and Delgado can probably still provide a better DH option than what a few teams have going for them now. Ms come to mind. Maybe the Rays before they brought up Blalock.
I mean, I’m certain he can provide more value that Matt Laporta in Cleveland, or Mark Kotsay in Chicago.
There’s no way in hell he would be worse than Eric Chavez is at hitting a baseball right now.
god, just f’ing retire
…sounds like a fit for the yanks..if he can have a .914 OPS playing on the Mets, imagine what his left handed bat can do at Yankee Stadium.