Koji Uehara won't retire until he's 'terrible and no team wants me'

Do you want Koji Uehara to keep pitching? Sure you do! Koji is great on and off the mound, and has become one of Boston's bigger sports personalities since joining the club in 2013. His high-fives are almost as responsible for Boston's 2013 World Series championship as his pitching.

He'll be 41 in April -- not that he's bothered by it, as he said, "Age is a number. Bring me a present that day" in response to a question about his age. Even if he's not bothered by it, there has been kind of an assumption that, as his two-year deal comes to a close and him being 42 for 2017, this might be his final season.

This could very well be his last season on the Sox, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be his last season in baseball. Take it from the man himself:

No retirement plans for @TeamUehara. "I will keep pitching unless I am terrible and no team wants me." Then he started laughing

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) February 16, 2016

Uehara threw 40 innings in 2015 while posting a 2.23 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was halved, but that's because he walked two batters per nine instead of one. The cool thing about pitching at such a high level is that Koji has some room to slip as he winds down his career, and can still be valuable in the process.

He doesn't succeed with velocity, but smarts and a splitter. So, as long as the splitter doesn't vanish on him, Uehara should be able to continue pitching well for at least a couple more years. Well, so long as his body allows him to, and that's always going to be a question for Koji.

Luckily, it sounds like he's healthy after wrist surgery, and he's also fine being displaced by Craig Kimbrel. There weren't any doubts about this, given Koji's openly affable nature and excitement to win. Dude is just happy to play his part and keep playing the game he so clearly loves. Hopefully, he'll keep playing that part with the Red Sox for the next couple of years.