Los Angeles Dodgers News: Josh Beckett Considering Retirement After Season-Ending Surgery

The Los Angeles Dodgers may be losing Josh Beckett after the right-hander announced he needs season-ending surgery and admitted he is thinking about retirement.

The Los Angeles Dodgers ace confirmed Friday that his torn labrum was not healing properly and would require surgery. Beckett had been working his way back from the hip injury but reached a plateau in his rehab. The procedure will require about four months of rehab, doctors told Beckett.

After the announcement, the 34-year-old Beckett admitted that he is considering retirement.

“As far as the progress has gone with this thing, I think Donnie [Mattingly, the Dodgers’ manager] said it yesterday: It’s just not going to happen this year,” Beckett said. “As far as the future goes, for next year, I think I’m going to have to think about that and talk to my wife a little bit more.”

In 20 starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Josh Beckett went 6-6 with a 2.88 ERA. In May, he threw a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Josh Beckett said he would make a final decision about his baseball career after the winter.

“I think the decision would have been more difficult if health had not been an issue,” Beckett said. “The last three years have been just been one thing after another for me. When we do get to the offseason, the decision will be tough, but it still makes it a little easier.”

Injuries had taken quite a toll on Beckett, who won a World Series at age 23 with the then-Florida Marlins. He won again with the Boston Red Sox in 2007, but he has since been ravaged by injuries. Beckett said it would take four hours of preparation to get his body ready for starts this season.

“At some point, you decide, ‘Is this really worth trying to get myself ready for another season when you know the stuff that goes into it,’ ” Beckett said. “It’s not the pitching part that bothers you. I probably felt best on the days I pitched. It’s the other days leading up to it. I’m not announcing anything right now. I don’t know if the decision will be made before Christmas. It may be the day after the season, it may be January.”

John Beckett is a three-time All Star and runner-up to the Cy Young award in 2007. The Los Angeles Dodgers star has pitched 2,051 innings over 14 major-league seasons.