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First Posted: 3/7/2013 NEW YORK &#8212; The great Mariano Rivera is getting set to close his career.
The New York Yankees&#8217; reliever plans to announce this weekend that he will retire after the 2013 season, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement. A news conference was called for Saturday at the Yankees&#8217; spring training complex in Tampa, Fla.
The 43-year-old closer is baseball&#8217;s saves leader with 608. He is regarded as one of the best clutch pitchers in history, posting a record 42 postseason saves with an 0.70 ERA while helping the Yankees win five World Series championships.
&#8220;Greatest closer of all time. No question in my mind,&#8221; Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had the thrill of catching him. I was there when he really burst onto the scene as a dominant setup man and then to see what he did as a closer has been a thrill for me.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s really hard to imagine that anyone could do the job he did,&#8221; he said. &#8220;At times it seemed like it wasn&#8217;t fair. That&#8217;s how good Mo was. He was so dominant.&#8221;
Rivera missed most of last season after he tore a ligament in his right knee while catching fly balls during batting practice. The right-hander was hurt May 3 and had surgery the next month.
Rivera returned home to Panama this week for a personal matter, and was expected to rejoin the team Saturday.
Hank Steinbrenner declined to say what would be announced at Saturday&#8217;s news conference. But the Yankees co-chairman said he would like Rivera to remain involved with the team when he does end his playing career.
&#8220;If he wants to, that would be my preference,&#8221; Steinbrenner said. &#8220;I think he&#8217;d be a great influence, even if it&#8217;s only at spring training.&#8221;
There was a good chance Rivera would pitch in an exhibition game Saturday for the first time this spring. The 12-time All-Star typically goes at his own pace in camp, fine-tuning his dreaded cut fastball in the bullpen and in simulated games.
&#8220;You only need one finger with him, so if I get four cut off we are still good to go,&#8221; Yankees catcher Chris Stewart said.
&#8220;Having a guy out there who knows where he&#8217;s going to throw it every single time &#8212; you can&#8217;t ask for better than that. And then to have a guy with one of the best pitches in the game &#8212; it makes my job easy. If you have the lead after eight, there&#8217;s a pretty good chance you are going to get a win,&#8221; he said.

Source: Yanks’ Rivera plans to retire after 2013