Cardinals acquire Mark Mulder

On December 19, 2004, Oakland A’s 26 year-old RHP Mark Mulder was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals to fulfill the role of pitching staff "Ace"--a position that St. Louis Cardinals General Manager Walt Jocketty believed needed to be filled after the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 World Series.

In exchange for Mulder, the Cardinals gave the A’s 29 year-old RHP Kiko Calero, 24 year-old RHP Dan Haren, and 19 year-old minor league catcher Daric Barton.

Here is a look at each of the involved players 2004, and career translated numbers.

***For Daric Barton only 2004 un-translated statistics will be presented, as translated statistics were unavailable. For Dan Haren, both 2004 and career un-translated statistics will be presented for the same reason.***

Cardinals receive:

Mark Mulder:

2004: 3.85 ERA, 8.0 H/9—0.8 HR/9—3.0 BB/9—5.1 K/9

Career: 3.45 ERA, 8.2 H/9—0.8 HR/9—2.3 BB/9—5.5 K/9

A’s receive:

Kiko Calero

2004: 2.60 ERA, 4.8 H/9—0.9 HR/9—1.6 BB/9—8.1 K/9

Career: 2.65 ERA, 5.5 H/9—0.9 HR/9—2.9 BB/9—9.2 K/9

Dan Haren (Haren was a mid-season call-up for the Cardinals in 03’ and 04’):

2004: 4.50 ERA, 8.8 H/9—0.9 HR/9—3.3 BB/9—6.3 K/9

Career: 4.85 ERA, 9.8 H/9—0.8 HR/9—3.0 BB/9—5.7 K/9

Daric Barton (A-ball, Peoria Chiefs)

2004: 313 AB, .313/.445/.511, 13 HR, 69/44 K/BB

The Cardinals are, without a doubt, receiving an All-Star caliber pitcher in Mulder, who has shown throughout his career that he can, indeed, fill the role of "Ace," that he was brought in to do.

The A’s on the other hand are receiving hope for the future with this trade. With the 19 year-old Barton not yet called up to the majors, and Haren only being 25 years old, great potential for the future still lies within these two young players.

In Calero, the A’s receive a proven relief pitcher, who has done nothing but put up phenomenal numbers for the Cardinals in the past two seasons.

A quick look at the money side of this deal will show the A’s are saving a nice amount of cash.

Both Haren and Barton are still making the league-minimum minor league salary, while Calero’s salary in 2005 will be determined through arbitration; and assuming it won’t be too much higher than 2004 salary of $310,000, these three players are sure to make much less money, combined, than the $6 million Mulder will make in 2005.

As for the Cardinals, they now have to pick up Mulder’s contract which runs through 2005, with a club option for 2006 at $7.25 million. Obviously, with this trade, the A’s have rid themselves of having to worry about picking up this option.

The role that Mulder is expected to fill with the Cardinals is very clear, and has been specified. While the Cardinals did pick up a great pitcher, it has to be in the back of their minds how Mulder struggled badly down the stretch in 2004. Mulder’s untranslated ERA by month:

April: 3.00

May: 3.00

June: 2.74

July: 5.11

August: 5.14

September:8.10

October (one start): 18.00

Besides that tough stretch, Mulder has been nothing short of dominant throughout his entire career.

The role that Haren is expected to fill for the A’s has been rumored to be starting pitcher. If this rumor is true, the A’s must believe he can pitch more like he has throughout his minor-league career (473.0 IP, 1.22 ERA, 8.5 H/9—0.8 HR/9—1.6 BB/9—8.8 K/9), because in Haren’s brief time in the big leagues, he has not shown the ability to be a quality pitcher (see numbers above).
With the acquisition of Barton, the A’s put themselves in position to trade away newly acquired, highly-paid, catcher Jason Kendall when they believe Barton is ready to be called up to the major leagues.

Calero’s role with the A’s will be the same as it was with the Cardinals—dominant reliever.

In the end, the Cardinals got the better end of this trade. The amount of money they are paying Mulder next season is a bargain--only $6 million is paltry compared to what the top-tier 2004 free-agent starting pitcher’s are getting paid, as a matter of fact, so is the $7.5 million that the Cardinals will have to pay Mulder if they pick up his option in 2006. On top of Mulder’s dominance, it must be remembered that he is only going to be 27 years-old in 2005 to boot.

While I think the A’s got the better end of their deal with the Braves for Tim Hudson, I do not think the same case holds true for this trade. The player the A’s received from the Braves who did have major league experience (Juan Cruz, Charles Thomas), had shown great success in their time in the majors. In this deal, only one of the two players with major league experience--Calero--has had success. Haren has been a bust throughout his two stints in the major leagues.

I cannot believe I am saying it, but I think Billy Beane was outdone in this deal. Even though he saved a large amount of money, and picked up some good prospects.

Obviously, if Haren turns things around and becomes another Mark Mulder, and Barton responds to his call-up by becoming the next Ivan Rodriguez, then the A’s would end up with the better end of this deal. For now though, the Cardinals stole one from the A’s.

Thank you for reading.

Frank Bundy III

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestion, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.