Mark Mulder Announces Retirement

Mark Mulder decided to call it a career and retire from baseball on Monday. The two-time All-Star was thought to be all but signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he felt the work into coming back wasn't worth the effort.

Mulder only made six appearances in the Majors since 2007. He missed the entire 2009 season and many felt he would sign a minor league deal and attempt another comeback.

Mulder will finish his career with a record of 103-60 with a 4.18 ERA in 205 games. He finished second for the AL Cy Young award in 2001, with a 21-8 record.

While he would have been a great low-risk option for the Brewers, Mulder's retirement won't affect the team's plans for 2009. The team already signed fellow lefties John Halama and Chris Capuano to minor league deals.

Mulder interviewed with the Brewers in January about a possible comeback, but Brewers' pitching coach Rick Peterson had doubts whether Mulder would actually return. Today's announcement was no surprise to him.

"It doesn't surprise me," Peterson said. "He really had to think about whether he wanted to go through this."

The Brewers have done a great job improving the league's worse pitching rotation in 2009. Mulder would have been a nice back-up option had anyone in the current rotation fell due to injury.

Mulder's past successes and young age could still lead to a future comeback, but for now, the former A's and Cardinals pitcher will head into retirement at only 32 years old.

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