Darren Oliver 'leaning toward retiring'

The Toronto Blue Jays exercised the $3 million club option for left-hander Darren Oliver yesterday, but the veteran is still said to be "leaning toward retiring," according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com:

the blue #jays exercised the $3M option for darren oliver. but he is still said to be leaning toward retiring.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 1, 2012

The decision to pick up Oliver’s option was a relative no-brainer for the Jays, as the southpaw has been fantastic over the past several seasons. Over his first year with Toronto the 42-year-old maintained an ERA of 2.06 with 8.3 strikeouts per nine and 2.4 walks per nine over 62 appearances spanning 56 2/3 innings.

While the Blue Jays clearly want Oliver back in the bullpen, it’s to be determined if the veteran will return for another season.

Selected in the third round of the 1988 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers, Oliver has gone on to spend 19 seasons pitching at the major league level. He owns a career ERA of 4.53 (it’s been 2.52 over the past five years) as a member of the Rangers, Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros.