The Angels are “up there” among the teams pursuing former All-Star Mark Mulder, the pitcher said via text Friday night. Mulder, who is trying a comeback more than three years after he retired, said no deal is done. He is expecting to get a minor league deal from whatever team signs him.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe had earlier tweeted that the Angels were the front-runners for Mulder.
Mulder’s agent, Brian Charles, said the pitcher is weighing “multiple offers.” Charles said the decision should come “sooner rather than later.”
Mulder, 36, last pitched in the majors in 2008 and abandoned his rehab attempts in 2010. His last injury-free season was 2005. The former All-Star and 20-game winner has worked for ESPN the past several years.
Mulder had said he saw something this October in the delivery of Dodgers reliever Paco Rodriguez. When he copied it, he suddenly was able to have life on his pitches again. Mulder worked out for a couple of months and threw for teams – including the Angels – before the winter meetings. Mulder said he hit 90 mph.
The Angels are also on the verge of releasing right-hander Chris Volstad, who had signed a minor league deal earlier in the offseason, so Volstad could pursue a deal with the Korea Baseball Organization.
Volstad, 27, had a 2.88 ERA in half a season with the Florida Marlins in 2008, at age 21, but has since bounced between the Marlins, Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies, unable to rediscover that success. He has a 5.22 ERA since then. The Angels had signed him to a risk-free minor league deal with the intent of having him as a fallback option to provide depth in the starting rotation.
In other news, the Angels finalized the Raul Ibanez deal when the veteran passed his physical. Ibanez was signed to a one-year deal with a base salary of $2.75 million, but he can make up to $5 million if he meets playing time incentives that are easily attainable if he stays healthy.
