V-Mart hints at retirement after 2018: 'I'm ready'

It's been a long and interesting career for Victor Martinez, the Detroit Tigers veteran who's now in his 16th major-league season.

After dealing with heart problems last summer, Martinez has returned to the field this April and is off to a good start in what might be his final go-round in the majors. Though he never used the word itself, V-Mart hinted this week that he may be leaning towards retiring after this season.

"Honestly? I'm ready," Martinez told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. "I've got no regrets. I know I left everything in this game. I think the biggest problem for athletes is they don't know what to do after baseball. That won't be my problem."

Martinez has experienced plenty of peaks and valleys since his 2002 debut as a catcher with the Cleveland Indians. He's a five-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner, once finished second in AL MVP voting, and reached the 2,000-hit mark last summer.

But it hasn't been an easy road. Knee problems forced him to gradually move out from behind the plate to first base, then later to DH. He missed all of 2012 after tearing his ACL during an offseason workout, and had to watch his Tigers win the pennant without him.

Then there are the heart issues, made even more concerning given the fact his father died of a heart attack. Martinez said he needed electroshocks to lower his heart rate after being removed from a game in June. He was immediately placed on the DL with an irregular heartbeat. After a brief return, he was shut down for good in August, and underwent a cardiac ablation to help correct his irregular heartbeat.

"The doctor told me some basketball players and other professional athletes have come back from it and had a pretty normal life," Martinez said of the procedure. "But as simple as they say it can be, it's the heart, you know? I was definitely really nervous."

Now back in his rightful spot alongside Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the Tigers' order, Martinez is healthy and mashing again, hitting .314/.368/.471 with a home run and nine RBIs through his first 14 games this season. After last year's scare, things now appear to be shaping up for Martinez to exit the game on his terms.

"I'm so thankful to God to be in this position," he said. "When I first got this thing (the heart issue) and I was waiting for all these charts, and first going through the process of it, there were points where I thought I might not be able to play."