The Mets and Mulder

Matthew Cerron at Mets Blog, writes about the Mets and Mark Mulder possibly being the fail safe should the Barry Zito deal fall through:

...the buzz in some corners in baseball seem to suggest the Mets have interest in free-agent LHP Mark Mulder, who would be a back-up should the team fail to sign Barry Zito...

...for whatever reason, though, this has always been news to me…my sense for a while now has been that the Mets simply inquired about mulder, and when they learned he would not be ready to pitch until June, they backed off, which makes total sense…i mean, one of the main reasons they need a pitcher so badly is because Pedro Martinez will be out of action through august…mulder is not much better...

D-Backs offer Mulder contract

Bob McManaman at AZ Central, writes about the Diamondbacks offering Mark Mulder a contract:

In other developments, the Diamondbacks made their first formal offer to free-agent left-hander Mark Mulder on Monday. Diamondbacks General Manager Josh Byrnes declined to discuss the negotiations, as did Mulder's representatives.

Mulder is 103-57 with a 4.11 career ERA, but he is rehabilitating from rotator cuff surgery and may not be ready to pitch at the start of the season. He is to meet with the Texas Rangers today to talk about a possible deal.

Current list of free agent starting pitchers

Below are a list of the current free agent starting pitchers and their 2005 ERA's and records:

1. Tony Armas - 5.03 9-12

2. Miguel Batista - 4.58 11-8

3. Bruce Chen - 6.93 0-7

4. Roger Clemens - 2.30 7-6

5. Ryan Franklin - 4.58 1-8

6. Travis Harper - 4.39 2-0

7. Rick Helling - 4.11 0-2

8. Runelvys Hernandez - 6.48 6-10

9. Jason Johnson - 5.96 3-8

10. Eric Milton - 5.19 8-8

11. Brian Moehler - 6.57 7-11

12. Mark Mulder - 7.14 6-7

13. Tomo Ohka - 4.82 4-5

14. Chan Ho Park - 4.81 7-7

15. Aaron Sele - 4.53 8-6

16. Jeff Suppan - 4.12 12-7

17. John Thomson - 4.82 2-7

18. Steve Trachsel - 4.97 15-8

19. David Wells - 4.42 3-5

20. Jamey Wright - 5.19 6-10

21. Barry Zito - 3.83 16-10

Bolded are the only pitchers that range from Love to have to could be interesting.

Italicised are the pitchers that I am leery about but if there were no one else I would consider.

Everyone else can walk. That means you Clemens. I would rather come in last for the next 5 years than have you in the rotation.

Mulder to Meet with Texas

Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, writes about the meeting between Mark Mulder and the Texas Rangers:

Free-agent left-hander Mark Mulder plans to visit Texas and meet with owner Tom Hicks on Tuesday, FOXSports.com has learned.

Mulder, 29, has drawn interest from numerous teams, even though he missed the end of the 2006 season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a partial tear in his left rotator cuff in September and might not be ready to pitch until the middle of the season. For that reason, he likely will command a short-term deal with significant incentives, increasing his appeal in an escalating free-agent market.