There has been some talk of Mark
Buehrle’s baseball future beyond 2011. Buehrle has talked about
walking away when his contract expires after the 2011 season. From
all I have read, he’s financially stable and doesn’t really need the
money. He’s won a World Series. He’s thrown a no-hitter and a perfect
game. He’s won Gold Gloves. He’s made All-Star teams. So what else is
there for him to accomplish? Sounds like a pretty darn great career
if you ask me.

Yes, he only 30 years old. Some might
say he has more years in his arm even if he no longer would be
considered a #1. Does he want to continue and decline to just a
decent pitcher while collecting a paycheck? Does he want to move to the bullpen?

Let’s look at the numbers. Maybe we can
see something that might suggest it’s time.

Year    W   L      ERA  WAR   FIP  BABIP     K/9

2005   16   8     3.12   6.3   3.42   .290     5.67

2006   12   13   4.99   1.9   5.27   .307     4.32

2007   10   9     3.63   3.7   4.26   .287     5.15

2008   15   12   3.79   4.6   3.94   .312     5.76

2009   13   10   3.84   3.4   4.46   .282     4.43

2010   13   13   4.28   3.8   3.90   .313     4.24

I would say fairly consistant for the
most part. So you can’t point to a rapid statistical decline to
suggest retirement.

What I am concerned about is that he
has 2271 IP on his arm over 11 seasons and it’s a good bet he will
add another 200+ in 2011 to take that total to around 2500 IP.

I am also concerned that over the last
few seasons he appeared to lose steam in August and September.

While many are worried about Jake
Peavy’s health I am concerned about Mark Buehrle’s stamina and
ability to keep up the pace through a pennant drive. Come the fall,
wins will be precious and the Sox can’t afford to have the rock of
the rotaion losing streaks of games.

I’m not saying Buehrle is washed up,
but what I am saying is that he’s showing small signs that he may be
beginning to decline.

I would love to see Mark continue on
with the White Sox but I can’t see him being worth the 14 million per
year that he currently makes. Will he take a pay cut to stick around?
I’m not sure of that. Would his childhood favorite team in St. Louis
be the next logical step for him? Maybe. He would be close to his
home and his family, which he states as a major reason he would even
consider calling it quits.

It would not surprise me to see him
take his Gold Gloves and go home after this season. It would be more
likely to happen should the Sox win the World Series this year. Then
I think he would be happy to go out on top.