Cardinals Re-Sign Mulder
January 11, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Hot Stove
The St. Louis Cardinals have re-signed left-hander Mark Mulder to a 2-year, $13 million deal. The linked ESPN report indicates that if he starts 30 games in 2007 and 2008, incentives can kick it up to 3 years, $45 million. Considering that Mulder is expected to miss the first half of the season while recovering from rotator cuff surgery, I’m not sure how he’s going to reach those incentives. Or am I misreading?
Anyway, if Mulder can return to health, this could be a steal. Of course, that’s a huge “if” for a guy coming back from a shoulder injury. Mulder was brutal in 2006, posting a 7.14 ERA in 17 starts. From 2001 to 2005, though, he was brilliant. In fact, Mulder compares pretty well over that period to another former A’s lefty who hit the open market this winter:
| IP | ERA | H/9 | HR/9 | BB/9 | K/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mulder | 1054 | 3.65 | 8.63 | 0.82 | 2.55 | 5.90 |
| Zito | 1116.2 | 3.56 | 7.68 | 0.93 | 3.35 | 6.99 |
The above should not only remind us of Mulder’s upside, but also serve as a cautionary tale for the Zito signing. Mulder was pretty darned good for a 5-year stretch and then he broke down. Anything can happen with pitchers.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] I missed this the other day when talking about the Cardinals’ signing of Mark Mulder, but St. Louis has inked right-hander Ryan Franklin to a 1-year, $1 million deal. Franklin came out of nowhere in 2003 to have a real nice season in the Seattle Mariners rotation. His low strikeout totals suggested that he’d have a tough time repeating, and sure enough, Franklin’s performance dipped in each of the next two years. [...]