Armida: Mulder One of the Best FA Pitchers
By Mike Silva ~ November 9th, 2009. Filed under: Offseason Speculation.
Gary Armida of Full Count Pitch believes that Mark Mulder may be one of the best pitchers this side of John Lackey in the free agent market.
It’s been a long time since Mulder was an effective big league pitcher. Many forget that St. Louis traded Dan Haren for Mulder back in 2005.
Mulder spent the entire 2009 season getting healthy and rediscovering his lost mechanics with former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson. At one point in the piece Peterson is quoted as saying Mulder has “electric stuff” during some of his recent bullpen sessions. How ironic that Mulder was the most resistant to embracing Peterson’s philosophies when he worked under him in Oakland. You just never know where life leads you.
Armida speculates that Peterson’s role in helping Mulder will give Milwaukee a leg up in signing him this offseason. Mulder is exactly the type of low risk/high reward the Mets should look towards signing.
My preference would be to sign John Lackey and then bring in a “scrap heap” pickup. Mulder could be one of those that you add to the list. It remains to be seen whether the Mets are willing to spend the money to obtain Lackey. Early reports have indicated they are looking to splurge on offense over the Angels ace.
In his prime Mulder was never an unhittable pitcher. He relied on control and inducing ground balls. Realistically you are looking at a mid to back end of the rotation starter. I think Gary is overly optimistic saying he can be a #2 but, if healthy, he certainly can help and provide value for the money invested. This is a name that Omar Minaya should at least take a look at this offseason.
