Report: Tim Hudson leaning towards retirement

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher, 39-year-old Tim Hudson, reportedly is leaning towards retirement after this season

Tim Hudson may not make the Hall of Fame (make that he almost certainly will not). But the 39-year-old right handed starter has had quite a career between his time with the Oakland A’s, Atlanta Braves and most recently San Francisco Giants.

Hudson has won 214 contests against 126 losses in 17 seasons and posted a career 3.46 ERA. He was once the “ace” of the “three aces” staff Oakland had in the early 2000s with Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

More from MLB

He did it all despite a rather diminutive frame–he stands just 6’1″, 175 lbs. Yet it is not his size or wear and tear on the body that has caught up with him, but simply father time. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Hudson is leaning towards retirement after this season, as he told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in an interview.

Hudson has had just one major injury in 17 seasons, in 2009 at the age of 33 while he was pitching for the Braves. And unlike with most pitchers, it was the freak kind, a broken ankle he suffered when he was covering first base and snapped it awkwardly.

Hudson has been remarkably reliable and healthy over the course of his career. He’s pitched over 3,000 innings and recorded over 2,000 strikeouts as one of the most durable and outstanding starting pitchers of this generation.

His exact words were “definitely leaning” towards retirement, despite the fact that Hudson threw almost 190 regular season innings a year ago, his first with the Giants where he put together a fourth career All-Star season and a 3.57 ERA.

He was pretty good in his one Wild Card start against the Washington Nationals, giving up just one run while scattering seven hits in 7.1 innings a year ago. Otherwise he had a pretty suspect postseason a year ago.

Still, it would be difficult to say the 39-year-old, who is playing at the final year of his two-year, $23 million deal with the Giants, is ready to hang up the spikes based on his performance on the mound.

He admitted as much to Rosenthal, “I feel pretty good. I feel as good as most 40-year-olds can feel trying to play a young man’s game.”

But it is believed that Hudson wants to be closer to his family and soak up the most important years of his children’s upbringing. Hence, the deliberation.

If Hudson does hang ’em up after this year, good for him. He’s had a great career, one he should be proud of. And if he doesn’t, he’ll probably continue to be one of the most reliable starters in the game, as long as he wants to be.

More from MLB

Home/MLB