Rick Ankiel’s wild and difficult time with the St. Louis Cardinals organization could be over.

The Cardinals failed to offer the pitcher-turned-outfielder a contract by Tuesday’s deadline, making him a free agent. St. Louis said it intends to continue negotiations with Ankiel and reliever Jorge Sosa, who also wasn’t offered a contract.

Ankiel, 27, missed last season after hurting his left knee in spring training, the latest in a series of setbacks.

He went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 2000 with 194 strikeouts in 175 innings and started the Cardinals’ postseason opener against Atlanta. Pitching with a big lead in the third inning, Ankiel walked four of eight batters and became only the second pitcher in major league history to throw five wild pitches in an inning, the first since 1890. He threw nine wild pitches in all over four postseason innings.

Ankiel went 1-2 in 2001 while trying to work through the wildness. After that, he pitched just 10 more innings in the major leagues.

In the spring of 2005, Ankiel threw just three strikes among 23 pitches at a spring training scrimmage against Cardinals hitters and decided to give up on pitching and try and make it as an outfielder.

He showed promise, with a combined 21 home runs and 75 RBIs in 85 games for Class A Quad Cities and Double-A Springfield in 2005. With the retirement of Larry Walker and the loss through free agency of Reggie Sanders, Ankiel appeared to have a shot at making the Cardinals.

But he injured a patellar tendon in a spring training scrimmage on Feb. 27 and had surgery May 26. He is expected to be healthy by next spring training.

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