Yanks manager Joe Girardi wants Mariano Rivera back next season

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he wants Mariano Rivera back next season. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has made it clear that this will be his last season.

If Yankees manager Joe Girardi had it his way, he would want Rivera to stay on another year.

Rivera, 43, is 4-2 with a 2.16 ERA and has converted 40 out 45 save opportunities this season, his 19th in the majors. He has nine 40-save seasons, tying Trevor Hoffman's Major League record.

Girardi said he will try to convince the all-time saves leader to come back for the 2014 season.

"I don't see any reason why he couldn't do it next year, I don't," Girardi said to ESPN.com. "He's made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to [return], but I always say, you know, January rolls around and sometimes you have a different feel about what you want to do."

"I'm sure I'll talk to him at some point in the offseason," Girardi said, "and ... I'll tell him when the season's over, 'Take a month. Take a month and a half, two months, and make sure this is really what you want to do. Because once you do go, it's hard to come back.'"

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