On this Day: St. Louis Cardinals trade for Mark Mulder

On December 18, 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals made one of their more infamous trades of the mid-2000’s. Eager to improve following a sweep in the World Series, the Cardinals acquired pitcher Mark Mulder from the Oakland Athletics, and gave a package headlined by young pitcher Dan Haren

The St. Louis Cardinals were in a much different state back then than they are now. Loaded with offensive talent that brought them to a 105-win season and a World Series appearance, the Cardinals were one of the most feared teams in the majors.

Lead by catcher Mike Mathe…I mean the core of Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, and Albert Pujols — who each had an OPS of over 1.000 in 2004 — the St. Louis Cardinals scored more runs per game than the Barry Bonds lead Giants, and lead the National League in SLG, AVG, and OPS. If not for the insane 232 walks Bonds drew, the Cardinals would have been .001 away from claiming the NL Triple Crown.

On top of that, Cardinals pitching was elite, ranking first in runs allowed, second in walks issued, and second in hits allowed. It seemed that from just about every angle, the Cardinals were locked and loaded, so being swept by the curse-breaking destiny’s child in the Boston Red Sox was demoralizing to say the least.

Soon after this loss, Cardinals brass decided that the team needed to get better. It was apparent even to the blind that the St. Louis Cardinals were in a position to win now.

They were definitely on to something, because the overall pitching numbers are a bit deceiving. Their success mainly came from the elite relief core that St. Louis boasted featuring Jason Isringhausen (2.87 ERA in 67 appearances), Kiko Calero (2.78 ERA in 41 appearances), Julian Tavarez (2.38 ERA in 77 appearances), and Ray King (2.61 ERA in 81 appearances).

On the other hand, the five starters who were the mainstays in the rotation were Matt Morris (4.72 ERA), Jason Marquis (3.71 ERA), Woody Williams (4.18 ERA), Jeff Suppan (4.16 ERA), and Chris Carpenter (3.46 ERA). While there are several names there that St. Louis Cardinals fans remember fondly, most of the starters floated closer to the league average ERA of 4.30 than anything that would be considered impressive.

On top of that, Williams was due to be a 37-year old free agent, which is something the St. Louis Cardinals wanted no part in. Allowing Williams to walk freed up a spot in the rotation, and there were some questions as to who would take his place.

Making a “Win-Now” move

The number one candidate to fill Williams’ vacancy for a time was a 23-year old prospect out of Pepperdine named Dan Haren. Haren was drafted as a starter in the 2nd round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Cardinals, and he minors over two-plus seasons before being called up to the majors in 2003. As expected, he wasn’t able to repeat that same level of dominance, but was around league average at a 4.50 ERA in 2004.

However, this wasn’t enough for the St. Louis Cardinals, so they used Haren’s youth and abilities as a trade chip, and found their match in Oakland A’s starter Mark Mulder. While Haren was the headline of the trade, the Athletics also recieved first baseman Daric Barton and and the previously mentioned Calero.

Mulder’s 4.43 ERA in 2004 raised some eyebrows, but his previous success and the aforementioned differences between pitching in Oakland and St. Louis was enough to quell any fears the front office had at the time. Even with the inherent disadvantages, Mulder still managed to pick up 15 wins for four straight seasons up to that point, including a 21-8 campaign in 2001.

The ’04 ERA was uncharacteristic of Mulder, as his previous three full season had put him at an ERA of 3.36, which was an impressive number given the circumstances. It was enough for him, along with fellow pitchers Tim Hudson — who was traded just two days prior to the Mulder move — and Barry Zito, to earn the moniker of the “Big Three” of the Oakland Athletics.

The Cardinals estimated that a move to Busch II would give Mulder the one thing he needed to truly take the next step towards defining himself as an elite pitcher. The team was in a win-now mode, and they addressed a major need without giving up too much depth. On top of that, Mulder was just 27 years old, giving him plenty of time to grow as well.

It’s easy to say in hindsight that the Cardinals should have taken another look at Mulder’s 2004 or be more patient with Haren, but this was probably the right move at the time.

Productive Compliments

Unlike most trades, where many of the complimentary pieces make little to no contribution to the major league teams, the A’s got some good run out of Barton and Calero. Even so, it seemed like a good trade for the Cardinals at the time, who were positioning themselves to make another deep postseason run.

Barton eventually made it on the Athletics major league roster, and remained there for eight seasons. He actually had a legitimately impressive 2010 season as a validating moment to look back on. He slashed .273/.393/.405, picked up 152 hits and drew 110 walks. He also hit 10 home runs and drove in 57 runs, while scoring 79 himself. While he wasn’t named an All-Star, Barton finished the season with a solid 5.5 WAR.

While he was mostly positive in his limited time throughout the remainder of his career, he never came close to repeating his 2010 performance. He was let go by the A’s in 2014, and currently plays in the Mexican Pacific Winter League for the Charros de Jalisco.

Calero regressed somewhat from his elite number in St. Louis, but it was bound to happen due to the switch from a relatively pitcher friendly park to a hitter friendly American League one. The fences had been moved closer at Busch in 1996, but it was still much more suitable to pitchers than the Oakland Coliseum.

Calero still recorded two solid years following the trade, posting a 3.33 ERA over 113.2 innings, but age began to take its toll in 2007. His ERA boiled over 5, and he was limited to only four games in 2008 before departing the A’s.

A Total Loss

Of course, Mulder didn’t quite turn into the prize that the St. Louis Cardinals had been seeking. His 3.64 ERA in 2005 was decent, but he spiraled down into an ugly 7.14 ERA in 90.1 innings in 2006, and just 12.2 innings of 12.08 ERA ball before being out of the league.

One saving grace however was Mulder’s playoff performance with the Cardinals. While it was only one year, he put up a 2.49 ERA in 3 postseason games in 2005 with the Cardinals.

On the other hand, Haren had a long career ahead of him, turning himself into a reliable starter. He improved dramatically in his first year in Oakland, shrinking his ERA from 3.73 over 34 starts despite the move into the AL. He hit a bump in the road in 2006, but his 2007 really put Haren on the map.

He finished 2007 with a 3.07 ERA in 222.2 innings pitched, and set new career bests in H/9 and K/9. Considering the American League average that season was 4.50, there was reason that Haren’s year was considered impressive enough to earn his first of three All-Star appearances.