Tuesday afternoon, former Brewers first baseman Corey Hart told SiriusXM’s Jim Bowden that his agent has talked with the Brewers, the world champion Boston Red Sox, the Rays and Rockies about Hart signing with one of the four teams for the upcoming 2014 season.
Hart, who’s returning from a pair of knee surgeries that held him out for the entire 2013 season, says he feels like he’s 100 percent, but he won’t get medical clearance until Dec. 3 when he returns to Los Angeles to visit his doctors.
Hart underwent surgery on his right knee in January 2013 to repair a depression on the joint surface, then suffered the same injury on his left knee during rehab in July.
Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says that Hart said that he’s lost 20 pounds during his recovery and that he’s open to playing the outfield with whomever signs him.
One of the big factors regarding Hart’s decision to sign will be location. At least, location for spring training. Rosiak also mentions that Hart says that although a winning team is nice, he’s a family man first and will do what he feels is best for them.
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy’s reported that Hart lives with his wife and four kids in Arizona. The Rockies and Brewers have their spring training facilities in Arizona, while Boston’s and Tampa’s are out in Florida.
“Winning will be great, but I’m more of a family man than anything,” Hart told MLB Network Radio. “So it won’t necessarily won’t be the best fit for me; it will be the best fit for my family. We’ll come together and figure out what the best fit is for us, and that’s where we’ll go.”
Hart, who is represented by Jeff Berry of CAA Sports, says in the interview that most of the early inquiries are for him at first base. CAA also sent out a video of Hart doing agility drills to try to gather interest.
Hart batted .270 for Milwaukee in 149 games in 2012, knocking out 30 home runs and knocking in 83 RBI. He’s a career .276/.334/.491 hitter with 154 home runs and 508 RBI since coming up in 2004.
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