New York Yankees star Derek Jeter announces will retire after 2014 season

American baseball star Derek Jeter has reportedly announced on his official Facebook page that he would retire after the 2014 season with 'absolutely no regrets', ending one of the greatest careers in the history of the New York Yankees.

A 13-time All-Star who has led the Yankees to five World Series championships, Jeter, who was limited to 17 games last season while trying to recover from a broken left ankle sustained during the 2012 playoffs, was the last link to the powerful Yankees teams that won three straight World Series crowns from 1998-2000.

According to the Huffington Post, the 39-year-old Yankees shortstop and captain posted a long letter on his Facebook page, saying that 2014 will be his last year playing professional baseball, adding that he has no regrets as he has gotten the most out of his life playing baseball.

Jeter, who is the Yankees' career hits leader with 3,316 and is a lifetime 0.312 hitter in 19 seasons, further stated in the letter that last year was tough on him and he also realised that some of the things that always came easily to him were starting to pall.

Stating that he had already realised that 2014 would be his final season months ago, Jeter also said that it is now the time for him to move on and focus on his personal life, philanthropic works and starting his own business, although he added that he wants to help the Yankees reach their goal of winning another championship before retiring.

Jeter's numbers put him among the greats in Yankees history, with fans often invoking the names of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and others when mentioning Jeter's legacy, the report added.