Cal Ripken Jr. open to managing in MLB

It looks like Cal Ripken Jr. may soon be returning to Major League Baseball.

ESPN is reporting that Ripken told Rich Eisen of the NFL Network that he would be willing to return to the majors as a  manager.

Ripken told Eisen, via ESPN:

"I have thought about how cool it would be to manage. And even [Los Angeles Dodgers manager] Donny Mattingly got me thinking about this a little bit more. He said there’s nothing like being a player, and coaching is pretty good because you help other people do what it is that they do.But managing is the closest thing to being a player, and I’ve always thought that anyway, internally. Now I’m starting to think about that a little bit more."

Since retiring in 2001, the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer has been running his company, Ripken Baseball Inc. He as also worked as an analyst for TBS Sports.

The 53-year-old Ripken was also asked about Washington National outfielder Jason Werth’s comments that Ripkin would be his number one choice to replace Davey Johnson, who retired last month at 70-years-old, per ESPN:

"I have said that at some point I’d like to come back to baseball. And most recently, I said that I’m starting to get an itch to do that. But I’d have to look hard at any opportunity, and so far, I haven’t been asked to do anything. So it’s very flattering that people think of me that way."

Ripken played for the Orioles for his entire 21-year career, include a record of 2,632 straight games. Ripken was a two-time AL MVP, and was an all-start 19 times.