WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Astros catcher ?Jason Castro? said Friday he¡¯s considering retiring at the end of the 2022 season. Castro, 34, is in the final year of his contract.

¡°I don¡¯t want to jump to any conclusions, but my main focus is this season and making this the best season that I can, from a personal perspective, from a team perspective,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s the first goal, first and foremost.¡±

Castro, selected by the Astros in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft, ranks third on the Astros¡¯ all-time games caught list with 624, behind Brad Ausmus and Alan Ashby. He left the Astros in free agency following the 2016 season -- the year before they won the World Series -- and spent three seasons with the Twins (2017-19) before splitting 2020 between the Angels and Padres and returning to Houston last year.

¡°To be back in the organization that I came up in, that I was drafted by, to have gone through the rebuild that we did and to have left when I did and being able to come back and be in the World Series last year and hopefully repeating ... not only being there but winning a championship this year with this team, would be a pretty cool story,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s the goal, that¡¯s the hope. I¡¯m just grateful for the opportunity to be able to come back here and be on this team that has given me so much in my baseball career.¡±

Castro said several factors will play into his decision whether he will return for another season, though retirement is something he¡¯s been considering for a while.

¡°I¡¯ll take the year to take things into account and we¡¯ll see where we¡¯re at the end of the year,¡± he said.

Last year, Castro hit .235 with a .799 OPS in 66 games with the Astros, primarily serving as the backup to Mart¨ªn Maldonado. He was 2-for-7 in the postseason with a home run in six games off the bench but missed the final three games of the World Series after testing positive for COVID-19. He also had two stints on the injured list with left Achilles¡¯ soreness and right knee discomfort.

¡°I¡¯m trying to do everything I can to be healthy and stay on the field as much as I can,¡± he said. ¡°Like I said, the goal is to win a championship. Whatever I need to do to help this team do that, that¡¯s what I¡¯m looking to do.¡±

Castro broke in with the Astros in 2010 and missed the entire 2011 season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament while running the bases in Spring Training. He was Houston¡¯s starting catcher through its rebuilding years, which included three consecutive 100-loss seasons, and he was the club¡¯s lone All-Star in 2013. That season he posted a .835 OPS, hit 18 homers and collected 56 RBIs.

¡°The last 13 years, roughly, have gone by very quickly, but if I think back to some of those teams that I was on my rookie year and some of those guys who were on the team, it seems like a long time ago -- while at the same time feeling like it passed very quickly,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve enjoyed all my experiences and have been very fortunate to have been given the opportunities that I had in baseball. I¡¯m just trying to be grateful and enjoy every moment.¡±

Castro and his wife, Maris, both of whom graduated from Stanford, have made a home in Houston with their three kids, including a newborn. He¡¯s not sure where his post-playing life will take him, but he wants to remain in the game.

¡°That¡¯s something my wife asks me all the time, ¡®What do I want to do after?¡¯¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I want to do. I could definitely see myself staying in baseball in some capacity. What that means? I don¡¯t know, honestly. We¡¯ll definitely cross that bridge when I get there.¡±