FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Joel Zumaya's season is over, his time with the Minnesota Twins ended before it began because of a damaged elbow.

Now he has to decide whether his once-promising career is finished as well, and the reliever with the rocket right arm and the pattern of recurring injuries sounded like he's ready to quit rather than endure another arduous year of rehabilitation.

"Right now, my perspective is probably not," Zumaya said Monday, two days after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. "I know I'm pretty young, but I'm probably going to go on six surgeries if I go get another one. I'm only 27 years old. I've taken a lot of wear and tear on my body, especially my arm, and then rehab, and it just mentally takes a lot out of you."

Zumaya didn't pitch last season. He left the Detroit Tigers to sign with the division rival Twins, getting an incentive-laden one-year contract with $400,000 guaranteed.

"I've got a little 2½-year-old, so maybe it's time to move on," Zumaya said.

To resume his career Zumaya would need Tommy John surgery, the ligament-replacement procedure that typically requires at least a year of rehab. He said he expects to decide within two days whether to have surgery or retire.

"It's tough for anybody involved in a situation when you're talking about a guy going through what he's going to have to go through here," said Twins general manager Terry Ryan, who hoped to strengthen a struggling bullpen with the high-risk, high-reward reliever. "It's a personal decision between his family and people he confides in and so forth."

Zumaya was hurt throwing his first session of batting practice after just 13 pitches Saturday. He said he had little doubt after the injury that the diagnosis would be dire.