Bartolo Colon isn’t ready to retire just yet. Last month, reports surfaced that the 44-year-old right-hander was planning to continue his career in 2018, and now it appears he’d be willing to return on a minor-league deal. Mike Puma of the New York Post adds that Colon is only open to a minors contract with the Mets, however, and the club reportedly has “minimal interest” at the moment.
Colon rounded out his second decade in the majors in 2017, splitting his 20th season between the Braves and Twins and pitching to a combined 7-14 record in 28 starts. He finished the season with a 6.48 ERA, 2.2 BB/9 and 5.6 SO/9 in 143 innings, a far cry from the All-Star numbers he put up in recent years. According to FanGraphs, the right-hander’s value dipped from 2.8 fWAR in 2016 to a paltry 0.6 in 2017, the worst mark he’d seen since an injury-shortened stint with the White Sox in 2009.
A major league gig likely isn’t in the cards for the veteran righty, but it makes sense that he’d want to return to the team with whom he spent some of the most fruitful years of his career. In three seasons with the Mets, Colon went 44-34 in 95 starts, decorating his efforts with a 3.90 ERA, 1.3 BB/9, 6.3 SO/9 and his 36th complete game.