Hopefully this guy doesn't steal games from Mat Gamel.
Lots of contracts to announce. Things are finalized with the MLBPA so here are your salary break downs for these three signings.
Randy Wolf – 3 Years, $29.75M plus Club Option ($1.5M buy out).
2010 – $9.25M
2011 – $9.5M
2012 – $9.5M
2013 – $10M ($1.5M buy out)
LaTroy Hawkins – 2 Years $7.5M
2010 – $3M plus $500k signing bonus.
2011 – $4M.
Craig Counsell – 1 Year $2.1M with $500k incentive for games played.
McClung and Rivera were both non-tendered. Not a really big surprise, but I for one will miss Big Red. It’s a real downer for both the fan base and Seth himself, but it might be the best thing for his career. Macha didn’t appear to have much faith and trust in him, so a new start may just be what the doctor ordered. With these three signings, this brings our current estimated payroll total to $82.3M. Over the “status quo”, so perhaps Mark is opening the wallet just a hair to position the team better.
The Wolf contract is the biggest splash of the off season. No other clubs offered him a third year, and we gave him a fourth in an option. This isn’t really a bad contract at all, it doesn’t escalate like Suppan’s did, so he’s not going to be the huge boat anchor that the SS Suppan is. I’m not a huge fan of the third year (and a fourth is pretty crazy), but overall I don’t have to much to complain about. Do not expect an ace out of Wolf, his BABIP was down a bit last year. So expect his numbers to rise a bit, but he should make a solid #2 / #3 pitcher. Personally, I would have wanted a high risk/high reward player like Bedard/Harden/Sheets. Sheets seems to be pricing himself out of reality, and Harden signed a pretty decent deal with the Rangers (1 year, $7.5M).
The Hawkins signing was a bit of a surprise to me. But on MLB Hot Stove, Doug mentioned how Hawkins has closing experience and will provide flexibility when Hoffman isn’t able to go. This might actually prove to be a very good signing in the event of a team implosion. If the Brewers are out of the playoff hunt by the deadline, Hoffman can be moved to a contender for perhaps a reasonable haul. I hope this isn’t the case, but it very well might be. Hawkins is a little over priced, but not by much. It seems that Doug might have learned from his Riske signing that long term contracts to older relievers isn’t a wise thing.
Counsell, everybody loves Counsell. He’s the hometown hero that everyone wanted back. He’ll provide protection against injury at SS/3rd and 2nd base. We could have used a cheaper internal option, but with all the question marks we have, it’s good to have a consistent players to back them up. The one thing that worries me is the $500,000 incentive based on games played. So both Zaun and Counsell, who are older, have huge fiscal incentives to play as much as possible in order to vest their incentives. But really, what are the chances Gamel gets to develop and not rot on the bench now that Counsell will want to play all the time? Free Mat Gamel.
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