letter to mark mulder

by amettrick on Aug 30, 2006 12:18 AM EDT Comment 13 comments

dear mr. mulder,

to begin, i would like to say that i truely appreciate the fact you are taking the mound and trying to help the team. this is very noble of you, because you are clearly not right, yet you continue to go out there anyway. you do this because the cardinals need you, or more accurately, they need the you that you used to be. as said before, the effort is appreciated, however, at this time i feel it is in the best interest of all parties involved for you to take a leave of absence. you are welcome to remain with the team, however, your services on the mound are no longer necessary. i understand that you might feel as though you are healthy and able to pitch, but there is clearly something wrong. i ask, regardless of how you feel, that you inform management that you are no longer capable of pitching at the major league level, at least for the rest of this season. for you to continue to try to pitch will be a detriment to the team and to your career. stepping aside will allow the team to utilize a pitcher more capable ot helping the team win. it will also allow you the opportunity to solve the issues that are leading to your poor performance, which will hopefully help you to continue your career next season. thank you for your understanding and your cooperation.

sincerely,
adam mettrick, concerned cardinals fan

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See...what we are saying Mark is...

"You aints gots to go home, but ya can't stay here".

by Hardcore Legend on Aug 30, 2006 12:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mulder

He's seeing a doctor tomorrow according to Leach.

Redbirds Fun
The Kentucky Democrat

by cardsfan84 on Aug 30, 2006 12:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

surprise

From Rotoworld ~

Mark Mulder indicated that he's still having trouble with his shoulder and he'll be examined by Cardinals team doctor George Paletta on Wednesday.
"There's still something going on," he said. "I'm obviously not right out there. It's not pain, it's just not right." National League hitters have found him just right all year long. Unless Mulder can find an arm slot that will give him more velocity or movement, he's not going to help the Cardinals. Anthony Reyes should be up to take his rotation spot next week.

Acquire Jason Schmidt!

by azruavatar on Aug 30, 2006 1:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, rotoworld

you are so much more rational than the Cards management

by Valatan on Aug 30, 2006 1:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I went back and looked at video of Mulder

from 2004 with Oakland and there is a noticable difference (no duh!):

-He's casting the ball when he comes through with his release. With Oakland, he basically was throwing down on the ball like a what I would equate to a catapault. Reaches the top of his shoulder and snaps it down with his arm fully extended out in front. Now, he's reaching the top and keeping his elbow somewhat bent and trying to steer the ball into the zone.

-When he brings the ball back, in Oakland he would fluidly slide it behind him, almost coiling it for the release. Now he is guiding it back there, without the almost 'anticipation' of striking it back forward. Instead of it appearing he is 'loading it up', now it seems like he is just going through the motion.

-Finally, on his follow through, his hand would almost open up and stay out in front in a 'SUPRISE, no ball!' motion, where as now he appears to be protecting the his hand almost hiding it from the hitter after he's released the ball.

Like he says, if he doesn't have strength in his arm, he's going to be not right. However, I'd imagine that even with decreased velocity, if he could get his arm to move fluidly in that motions he was using circa 2004, he would be this horrid. He'd get knocked around when batters were on to a pitch he was throwing, but he should be able to move the ball around and escape Marquis level damage.

Unfortunately for him, he looks like he can't even straighten his arm out at this point.

That's all my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. Free. ;P

by Hardcore Legend on Aug 30, 2006 1:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

BINGO...

I hadn't seen the Oakland video, but have been thinking that his elbow had dropped significantly. This just puts more stress on the shoulder. Shoulder health is a lot about muscle balance. Pitching in general will over develop the muscles on the front side of the shoulder. Higher arm slots will let gravity do a little bit of the work and allow the muscle in the rotar cuff to develop with a little more balance. But as the elbow drops, you have to rely on the shoulder muscles to develop arm speed. This will develop the front side of the shoulder and let the backside weaken. As the back-side becomes less balanced with the front side, it become harder and harder to lift your arm above your shoulder at the beginning of you pitching motion. This inturn will shorten the back side of a pitchers motion, at this point you are just screwed. All you can do is shut it down for a few months, let the muscle weaken, and then start lifting all parts of the shoulder to build balanced strength. I didn't think mulder would come back because he just didn't take enough time off. Methink for him to be effective again--he should shut it down now, take the winter off, and start lifting at the beginning of spring training. He could be back a couple months into next season. Time heals all wounds, and in this case it really would...

by BigJawnMize on Aug 30, 2006 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

beating a dead horse...

but does this trade now officially qualify as a "disaster"?

by svengali on Aug 30, 2006 8:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yes

and remember they had the money to do it because they didn't sign edgar rentaria. the bosox signing edgar signing still is sticking it to us...for as bad as last offseason was, i the one after the world series killed us.

by BigJawnMize on Aug 30, 2006 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Edgar Renteria

was my favorite Cardinal at the time - but I would have to say that not signing him was a good move. Eckstein had a much better season that year, and for considerably less money. He wanted big money, and he chased it to the detriment of his career. No guarantee he would have been any better as a Card.

by Toddius396 on Aug 31, 2006 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

But my point is look at how much money we were able to waist because we didn't sign him. Mulder has been an 8 million dollar per season sink hole. He is just lost cost now. Ok, nothing against Eck, but he cost us about 3 mil per. Add those together and we are paying 11 million for Eckstien and something less than a fifth starter. I think I would much farther ahead if we paid rents 10 million and spent a mil per on a back-end starter (maybe even call-up a starter for league min). OK that said this is all hind sight.

by BigJawnMize on Sep 2, 2006 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To be fair

Mulder was pretty servicable last year, and was downright stellar during certain stretches.

by Valatan on Sep 3, 2006 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

dear mark mulder:

i partly blame the staff. your problems should have been spotted from the dugout long ago. they werent. part of the reason they werent was because you lied to them. you told them you were fine...that there was nothing wrong...that it was just an off night. you werent honest. you knew you werent right. maybe you didnt know exactly what was wrong but you knew something was wrong. instead of trying to get help for your problem you ignored it...let it grow bigger...and now its the team's problem as well as yours. pitching through it wasnt a gutsy move, it was a stupid childish move. you need to be honest. its not your decision whether you should keep pitching. you need to provide the staff with all information so they can make the decision. good luck in kansas city or korea or whereever you end up next.

by dmb60614 on Aug 30, 2006 9:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs