By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | Jan. 4, 2016, 6:46 pm CT
Nearly two months after a report that veteran starter Mark Buehrle would only return for a 17th big league season if he was wearing the birds on the bat, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the St. Louis area native is “leaning toward not playing in 2016, though he is not yet ready to announce his retirement.”
It’s not clear how much, if any, discussions have taken place this offseason between Buehrle and the redbirds, who recently signed 28-year-old right-hander Mike Leake to a 5-year, $80 million deal after watching John Lackey land with the Chicago Cubs.
Drafted by the White Sox in the 38th round of the 1998 amateur draft, Buehrle pitched for the White Sox for the first 12 years of his career, finishing fifth in Cy Young award voting in 2005 and tallying four All-Star selections and a Gold Glove award.
After a year with Miami in 2012, Buehrle has been with the Blue Jays for the past three seasons, pitching to a 40-28 record with a 3.78 ERA. The 2015 season marked the first time since 2000, his rookie season, that Buehrle has not elapsed the 200 innings pitched plateau. For his career, the left-hander has a 214-160 record with a 3.81 ERA.
Feature image used under Creative Commons by Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.
