The Milwaukee Brewers have money to spend in free agency and they dropped a bunch of it on two pitchers Wednesday.
Could the Brewers be buying a bit too high on 33-year-old Randy Wolf? A breakdown of the left-hander's seven-year career (note: his best ERA from 2003-08 was 4.23):
| 2003-08 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| W-L | 52-40 | 11-7 |
| ERA | 4.44 | 3.23 |
| WHIP | 1.38 | 1.10 |
| H per 9 IP | 9.1 | 7.5 |
| K/BB | 2.22 | 2.76 |
Left-handed starter Randy Wolf and the Brewers have agreed to a three-year contract worth $29.75 million, major league sources tell ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. Wolf's contract contains a fourth-year option, sources said.
Later in the day, Milwaukee agreed with right-hander reliever LaTroy Hawkins on a two-year contract worth $7.5 million.
Wolf, 33, was 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA this year in his lone season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had a $5 million base salary and earned $3 million in performance bonuses based on innings.
With his team coming off an 80-82 record and third-place finish in the NL Central, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin pushed to add Wolf.
"It was really cool that Doug Melvin came out to L.A. and visited me and made it well known that I was his priority and he really wanted me there," Wolf told SIRIUS XM Radio. "That's a good feeling as a free-agent pitcher or any ballplayer really when you have a team that really wants you there and wants to win and feels that you can help the team do that."
Wolf also was a free agent last offseason. He agreed to the deal with the Dodgers on Feb. 6, about 1½ months after Houston offered a $27 million, three-year contract and then withdrew the proposal a week later, citing the poor economy.
"It was only natural to be a little bit apprehensive about where the market is considering what happened last year," Wolf said. "It was a crazy offseason last year especially with me. It made it really easy the way the Brewers came in very aggressive and made it really clear they wanted me there."
Hawkins, a 14-year veteran, made 65 appearances with Houston last season and was 1-4 with a 2.13 ERA and 11 saves.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
