Mark Mulder considers retirement
By john • May 30th, 2008 • Category: jon daniels, major leagues, mark mulder, opinions, st. louis cardinals, texas rangersIt doesn’t happen very often but I’m willing to admit I was wrong. It’s not something I’d want any one to know but something I’ll concede this time. I should have known back in 2007 that Mark Mulder is not a top of the rotation starter anymore. In fact Mulder isn’t in any rotation at this time still dealing with injury.
Three years have passed since Mark Mulder was one of the top pitchers in baseball. A former 20 game winner and a guy you could depend on for 200 innings and a ERA that started with 3.
Of course that was three years ago and since then Mulder has started just 20 games going 6-10 during that span and posting an ERA well above 7.
Rotator cuff surgery was to follow. He would resign with the Cardinals for two years for a total of $13 million with performance based incentives that could have made the deal worth $45 million over three years.
The result has been almost nothing. Today Mulder announced that rather then undergo a third surgery on that shoulder he would opt for retirement.
How things have changed. When Mulder was looking for a contact prior to last season I was giddy about the possibility of him joining the Texas Rangers. I figured general manager Jon Daniels just had to make this deal. A rotation of Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Brandon McCarthy and Mulder would no doubt put the Rangers back on the map.
Instead Mulder opted to resign with the Cardinals. It hasn’t just been Mulder who hasn’t performed well or much out of that group but I think it’s safe to say that the three other pitchers have had better runs, even McCarthy who has yet to even throw a pitch this season. Then again if McCarthy doesn’t though a pitch all year it’s still not that bad considering he’s making less then a tenth of what Mulder is making to sit around and wonder about what he was.
Mulder today announced he would rather retire then undergo another surgery. Leaving us all to ponder what the heck the St. Louis Cardinals got for $13 million dollars not to mention that they gave up Danny Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton to get him in the first place.
john is the main author and owner of this blog.
Email this author | All posts by john
[...] providing a link, but Mark Mulder said he’d rather retire than face another surgery. From Behind the Dugout: “Leaving us all to ponder what the heck the St. Louis Cardinals got for $13 million dollars [...]