Could Chad Cordero make a comeback?

According to this tweet from MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, former reliever Chad Cordero has lost a substantial amount of weight and is looking to make a comeback next season.

Cordero was once the closer of the Washington Nationals and was a good one, but injuries derailed his career; he never pitched in at least ten MLB innings after the 2007 season.

While with the Montreal Expos in 2004, Chad Cordero was worth 0.9 WAR with a 2.94 ERA and struck out 9.04 per nine innings. His control was shaky and he didn’t induce enough grounders, but he got out of jams and showed the potential to be a good closer in the Majors.

In 2005, when the Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals, Chad Cordero saved a career-high 47 games and had officially broken out as one of the better closers in baseball. In 74.1 innings, he had a 1.82 ERA and cut down his walks by half. He struck out about two batters less every nine innings, but he was still worth 0.6 WAR. Cordero did benefit from a .218 BABIP, but he has always had a low BABIP against him. In fact, Cordero’s career BABIP against is .257 in 330.1 innings.

Chad Cordero saved 29 games the following year, but he finished with a 4.59 FIP and was subpar overall in a down year. He bounced back in 2007 and had a solid year in what was an early swan song for the right-hander, because those 37 saves were the last he would make. It was a quality year for the Nats closer, as he had a 4.13 FIP and had the highest GB%.

But things went downhill from there, as the man who saved the second most games in the NL from 2005-2007 – 113, only the legendary Trevor Hoffman (131)had more- missed the entire 2008 season due to a labrum tear. He was not tendered by the Nationals, which led to a bad break-up courtesy of Jim Bowden, but he still loves the organization to this day.

Prior to the 2009 season, Chad Cordero latched onto the Seattle Mariners organization via a minor league contract. He was expected to become the closer after he recovered from the injury, but he stubbornly did not want to be optioned to the minors and left for the Mets.

In January of last year, Cordero signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that came with an invite to Spring Training. In mid-May, the Jays released him and Cordero signed with the St. Paul Saints team before retiring on the 20th of June last year.

I hope he decides to come back, because he was one of the best closers in the game in his three-year peak. Chad Cordero 30 years old and should still have a couple of decent years left in the tank, and I hope he gives it another shot next year.

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