Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said the team has no desire to replace Ryan Franklin at closer.

Franklin's contract expires after the 2011 season, and he's unlikely to be the closer after that with ninth-inning options Jason Motte, Mitchell Boggs, Kyle McClellan and prospect Eduardo Sanchez looming. But the 37-year-old (38 in March) has generally been quite effective the last two seasons despite his obvious lack of closer-type stuff.

Ryan Franklin returned to action on Friday September 17.

Ryan Franklin said Friday that he has reconsidered his plan to retire after his contract expires following next season.

Memo to Ryan: since you're a reliever not on a Hall of Fame path, we didn't really need to know about your retirement a year and a half ahead of time anyway. Why don't you hold off on any further updates until, say, next September or October?

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he doesn't have any more information in regards to when Ryan Franklin will return to the team.

Franklin was granted a leave of absence from the team in order to tend to a personal matter at his home in Oklahoma. Original estimates said he could return sometime this weekend. La Russa is expected to use a committee of pitchers during his absence, depending on the situation. Kyle McClellan pitched the ninth inning of Thursday's win over the Padres, though it was a non-save situation.

Ryan Franklin has left the Cardinals temporarily due to a personal issue.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is likely to employ a committee in the ninth inning while Franklin is out. He's expected to return this weekend.

Ryan Franklin returned to action on Wednesday September 1.

Ryan Franklin was torched for six runs while recording just one out while taking a loss against the Rockies on Tuesday night.

Franklin put the exclamation point on a bullpen meltdown for the Cardinals as the Rockies rallied from a six-run deficit in the ninth to win. Franklin entered with a five-run lead and immediately surrendered a three-run bomb before going on to allow a double, two RBI singles and another three-run homer. It was a disastrous outing the Cards closer, raising his ERA from 2.16 to 3.74. He had allowed only one home run all year prior.

Ryan Franklin acknowledged on Sunday that has been fighting a sinus infection for the past several days.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa wasn't presented with the chance to use Franklin on Sunday and the team has a scheduled off-day on Monday, so he should be available for his next save opportunity.

Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin believes that he will retire when his contract expires after the 2011 season.

Franklin will be 38 at that point and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "I think I owe it to my family. I've missed a lot of things that have been going on. I don't want to miss a lot more." With the current spate of midseason will-he-or-won't-he retirement stories, it's a nice change of pace to see a player who has his plan in place in advance.

Ryan Franklin blew a save but picked up a win against the Pirates on Friday.

Franklin was called upon in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded and two outs in a 3-2 game. He threw a wild pitch between Yadier Molina's legs, but then came back to get Lastings Milledge. The Cardinals proceeded to take the lead in the top of the ninth and Franklin shut the door. He's locked in as the Cardinals' closer.