Mets' Martinez may retire if he doesn't regain full strength

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Pedro Martinez is recovering well from an operation on his right shoulder but said Friday he would consider retiring if he does not return to full strength.

"It's getting better and progress is above all what is hoped for," Martinez told the Associated Press. "To go back I have to recover, I have to be healthy. But if God doesn't want that, then I would have to think about giving it all up."

The New York Mets pitcher said he is working on flexibility but that he, "won't put his hand on a ball," until at least March.

Martinez, 35, missed the playoffs and end of the 2006 season with a torn right rotator cuff and an injury to his leg. The Mets, forced to start backup pitchers, were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

The Dominican-born pitcher went 9-8 with a 4.48 earned run average but said 2006 was the toughest season of his career.

"It's going to be a bitter winter because I am going to have to do a lot of work. The pain I feel was one of the worst I have felt with any injury in my career," the three-time Cy Young Award-winner said.

Martinez, just two strikeouts shy of a career 3,000, has two years left on his contract with the Mets.