Slugger Sammy Sosa will retire from baseball after the next World Baseball Classic, Hoy, a Dominican Republic newspaper, reported.

Sosa is not currently playing in the Major Leagues.

The 1998 National League MVP told the newspaper that it "would be great if folks can see me for the last time wearing the uniform of the [Dominican Republic] National Team."

Sixteen countries will play in the second WBC in March 2009. Sosa did not play in the first WBC in 2006.

Last year Sosa recorded 21 home runs and 92 RBIs in 114 games while playing for the Texas Rangers. He hit his 600th career home run last June.

But the slugger said he's not interested in working for Major League Baseball.

"There's something that I wish to state very clearly: I'm not looking for a job. In fact, I have told my agent that he should stop offering my services to MLB teams," Sosa told Hoy. "I'm not retired. I remain highly focused and not begging for a contract."