 12/18/2004 8:13 PM ET
Cardinals acquire Mulder from A's
St. Louis bolsters rotation with ace left-hander
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| Mark Mulder worked seven or more innings in 20 of his 33 starts in 2004. (Jeff Roberson/AP)
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After months of trying, the St. Louis Cardinals landed their big left-handed ace.
No, not that one -- a younger one with a better career winning percentage than Randy Johnson.
On Saturday, the Redbirds announced that they had acquired Mark Mulder from the Oakland A's in exchange for right-handers Danny Haren and Kiko Calero and catching prospect Daric Barton.
The Cardinals won 105 games last season and reached the World Series on the strength of a starting rotation that had solid No. 2 and 3 type pitchers throughout. But the lack of an "ace" was felt in the postseason, and Mulder -- who has posted a 2-2 record with a 2.25 ERA in four October starts -- will fit that bill.
"We are extremely excited to have obtained a pitcher of Mark's caliber," Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said. "He is the top-of-the-rotation-type pitcher that we've been working hard to obtain this offseason. It was difficult to part with the three players that we traded, but to acquire someone like Mulder, we felt that this deal made sense for us in several ways."
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