Ever since Mariano Rivera tore his ACL, he said he'd be back.  It wasn't hard to believe him.  Sure, he is 42 years old.  Sure, he's been in the league since 1995.  Sure he's saved more games than any other human in history.  But despite all the reasons that would make it easy for Rivera to hang them up, we believed he would be back because baseball without him just doesn't seem right.  However, we may have to consider baseball without the game's greatest closer.  He has not made a decision but may retire rather than coming back for a 19th season.

According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York, Rivera let the team know that he is considering retirement.  Brian Cashman, the Yankees' GM, was notified on Tuesday that Rivera had not made a final decision as to whether to come back or retire.


Rivera tore his knee in May while shagging balls during batting practice in Kansas City.  After the injury, he made the proclamation that he would be back.  And who could blame him?  No player wants his career to end with an injury.  Had Chipper Jones not blew out his knee in 2011, that may have been his final season.  Instead, he came back for one more year and went out on his own terms.  That is likely the only thing holding Rivera back from retirement.  But he must decide whether going out on his own terms is more important than spending time with his family.

Rivera is the all-time saves leader with 608.  He has a 2.21 career ERA.  Then there's the postseason.  Rivera has played in 96 postseason games.  He has 42 postseason saves.  And he has a minuscule 0.70 ERA in the playoffs.

The Yankees can go on without Rivera.  It won't be easy, but they can do it.  The question is, can we?  Can we survive without one of the greatest pitchers in a generation.  Can we survive without the fear of Rivera shutting the door on our team's comeback, and the joy of seeing our team break him?  That's the beauty of a player so dominant, so polarizing (if you can even say he is polarizing).  If he retires, he goes out on top regardless of the injury.  If he comes back, we get to see a great in action for one more year.

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