Agent: Delgado has hip surgery again

Free-agent first baseman Carlos Delgado remains intent on reviving his career.

He just will need more time.

Delgado, 37, underwent hip surgery this week for the second time in nine months, according to his agent, David Sloane. He will be out four months, but still plans to play this season, Sloane said.

Dr. Marc Philippon, the same surgeon who repaired Alex Rodriguez’s hip, reconstructed the labrum in Delgado’s right hip and also performed a micro-fracture procedure on his hip socket.

Delgado currently is on crutches, but already is riding an exercise bike and no longer taking medication for pain, Sloane said.

Earlier this month, Sloane said that Delgado would not accept any of his current offers, waiting instead for the right situation, even if it meant joining a team in mid-season.

But Delgado, who played winter ball in his native Puerto Rico, recently experienced a twinge in his hip, prompting him to visit Philippon.

The doctor recommended surgery and Delgado agreed, believing the end result would enable him to make a cleaner comeback later this season.

“Yes. That’s why he did it,” Sloane said. “He had concerns: ‘I wait for somebody to get hurt. I sign with somebody. I hit a bump in the road and miss a week or so.’

“That’s not what he wanted. He wanted to play every day. He felt, despite the time it would take, it was a better option for him to be the Carlos Delgado of old instead of an old Carlos Delgado.”

Delgado appeared in only 26 games with the Mets last season before undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur and repair a labrum tear in his hip.

Sloane said earlier this month that Delgado had received major-league offers, and that the Mets had been among the clubs interested. The Marlins were another reported possibility.

Delgado has two major goals remaining – to play in his first World Series and hit the 27 home runs he needs for 500.