CHICAGO » Well-traveled pitcher Bruce Chen announced his retirement Monday night after 17 seasons in the major leagues.

Chen, who pitched for 11 teams, revealed his decision on Twitter and it was confirmed by the Cleveland Indians, who designated him for assignment Saturday.

Indians manager Terry Francona had said Chen wanted to speak with his family about whether he should try to continue pitching.

In a series of tweets, the 37-year-old lefty from Panama thanked his family, the teams he played for and the fans for support during his career.

Chen broke into the majors in 1998 with Atlanta and also pitched for Philadelphia, the New York Mets, Montreal, Cincinnati, Houston, Boston, Baltimore, Texas and Kansas City. He was 82-81 with a 4.62 ERA.

Chen spent parts of the past six seasons with Kansas City before joining the Indians this year and going 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA in two starts.

His final outing was Friday when he allowed three runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings of an 8-3 loss to Texas. He gave up first-inning homers to Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre.