Mike

Mordecai

This must mean he’s retired. Mordecai indicated last month that he hoped to keep playing, but the 37-year-old probably wasn’t receiving much interest. Mordecai finishes his career with a .245/.303/.363 line in 1,360 at-bats over 11 seasons with Atlanta, Montreal and Florida.

When Mordecai retired to take a managing job in the Marlins’ minor league system after last season, there was an agreement in place to bring him back to the majors in September so that he could get the 10 days service time he needs for 10 years, giving him a full pension. He doesn’t figure to see much action.

The 37-year-old Mordecai is now on the roster, but hasn’t played in a game this year. He managed the Marlins rookie-league team in New York instead, but needs just 10 days of service as a player to get full pension.

Mark Prior was dominant for seven innings, but things unraveled for the Cubs in the eighth. A fan interfered with a foul ball that Moises Alou probably would have been able to catch, and shortstop Alex Gonzalez failed to make a play on a routine grounder. Given five outs to work with, the Marlins blew game open, scoring two runs on a Derrek Lee double and three more on Mike Mordecai’s two-base hit. Game 7 of the NLCS will be played on Wednesday. Mark Redman and Kerry Wood will start. Josh Beckett could make an appearance on two days’ rest.

Mordecai got just 89 at-bats despite spending all of last season with the Marlins. With Andy Fox gone, he should have a larger role this season. However, Florida’s regular infielders won’t get breaks very frequently.

Mordecai is just 10 days short of 10 years service time, which would give him a nicer pension (and qualify him for the Hall of Fame!).