Randy Wolf to Sign with Brewers, 3 years plus club option/$29.75 million

[RyDogg66]

Sigh--the cycle continues. An awesome example of thinking inside the box and wasting precious resources. I don't want to hear a single complaint in two years or one year or six months. they've made their bed and now they're gonna lie in it.

Before adding Wolf our rotation candidates consisted of Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan and Narveson. We just witnessed a season where those 5 lead us to the worst starting staff in the National League. We gave up no draft picks or prospects to get Wolf.

 

Im being completely serious when I ask this, and if this is another thread please let me know, but what should Melvin had done instead?

[yoshii8]

Pudster, the difference is Braden Looper was one of the worst pitchers in baseball last season and Randy Wolf was one of the best. That, and the fact that he proved that he is healthy is the reason he is finally getting a long term deal.

[wibadgers23]

The Brewers should have stuck with Narveson, Suppan and Mike Burns as the back end of the rotation.

Or traded Escobar, Gamel, Lawrie, and Lucroy for one year of Halladay.

[lcbj68c]

Can somebody give a scouting report...pitch types, speeds, etc for this fellow?

[yoyo49]

and wolf rejected a 3 yr/28.5 mil dollar deal from the astros before settling for that one year deal last offseason

[Tbadder]

Look, I may be wrong about this, but I'd like to document all the over 30 free agent pitchers who have ever signed with a small market team and see how many of those teams went from non-playoff status to playoff status. It may be quite a few. It may be a healthy percentage. What do the stats say? Oh, and just to be clear about it. If Wolf is our savior. If he wins 15 games and we get into the playoffs I will extol the virtues and admit I was wrong.

[sbrylski]

Why you should be happy with this signing:

 

Should the Brewers get surprised and get a "no" from Wolf, it's my understanding that their fall-back position is Jon Garland, who pitched last season for Arizona and the Dodgers.

[statman0007]

I like the move. As others have said, Melvin needed to do something and Wolf seems like the best option that we could realistically get. And Wolf isn't Suppan...Suppan only pitched well for a couple of weeks (postseason) while Wolf has had productive seasons.

 

I think the right move now is to try to hit gold on one of those boom or bust type guys (Harden, Sheets, sorta Mulder) and hopefully the pitching staff should be markedly better than in 2009

[kramnoj]

Look, I may be wrong about this, but I'd like to document all the over 30 free agent pitchers who have ever signed with a small market teams and see how many of those teams went from non-playoff status to playoff status.

 

Market is a vague term. The Brewers are somewhere in the middle of payroll for teams and are in the upper tier for attendance and percentage of fans watching at home.

[JoeHova]

Lackluster. The deal probably won't end up as bad as Suppan's but the Brewers needed to do more. It's just depressing to follow this team.

[PeaveyFury]

The deal probably won't end up as bad as Suppan's but the Brewers needed to do more.

 

It's not like the off season ends today.

[brewcrewkid14]

I find it interesting that he had better stats on the road than he did at home last year:

 

Home: 4-3, 3.63 ERA, .229 AVE, 15 HR

Away: 7-4, 2.78 ERA, .224 AVE, 9 HR

 

I think Ted Lilly is a comparable pitcher out there in regards to what we can expect from him. Let's just hope he stays healthy.

[JoeHova]

The deal probably won't end up as bad as Suppan's but the Brewers needed to do more.

 

It's not like the off season ends today.

Obviously, but they just used most of their budget for improvements on this move. Now they'll sign a reliever and call it a day. I hope Melvin can pull off a shocking trade but I won't hold my breath.

[Patrick425]

He finished really strong last year (if my math is correct).

 

Last 10 games: 2.54 ERA and 0.876 Whip

Although he did struggle a bit in the playoffs.

[PeaveyFury]

Obviously, but they just used most of their budget for improvements on this move.

 

Probably true, but with all the reported interest in Hart, I'd be almost shocked if another pitcher isn't acquired in some sort of trade eventually.

[Tbadder]

Sigh--the cycle continues. An awesome example of thinking inside the box and wasting precious resources. I don't want to hear a single complaint in two years or one year or six months. they've made their bed and now they're gonna lie in it.

Before adding Wolf our rotation candidates consisted of Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan and Narveson. We just witnessed a season where those 5 lead us to the worst starting staff in the National League. We gave up no draft picks or prospects to get Wolf.

 

Im being completely serious when I ask this, and if this is another thread please let me know, but what should Melvin had done instead?

 

What I think the Brewers should be doing is making trades like the Hart for Maine suggestion. Making trades like the Diamondbacks/Tigers for young pitchers. Taking chances on low cost high risk/high reward pitchers ala Mulder. I don't believe the Brewers can be a successful franchise following the free agent route because their resoucres are limited. We have to act like the Twins, and not the low rent version of the Yanks or Red Sox. I think we've got our undies in a bundle over Fielder's departure and this notion of a window of opportunity. If the franchise is going to fall apart after Fielder leaves then pack it in right now. Do you (non-pejoratively) know what the Twinkies window of opportunity is? Every year. Every year because they follow a business model that can keep a small market team competitive. That's what I'm asking for. Signing old pitchers to big contracts is a fool's game. Signing older pitchers to one year incentive laden contracts, that then return us draft choices, is an excellent strategy for a team like the Brewers.

[endaround]

There is no room for another reliever so I don't know where that is coming from. The bullpen consists of Hoffman, Stetter, Coffey, Villaneuava, Vargas, and one of Suppan/Narveson. That leaves one spot that can be filled internally. I don't think the Brewers will get offered anything of value for Hart so I don't think he'll be going anywhere.

[kramnoj]

Now they'll sign a reliever and call it a day.

 

This would be contrary to Melvin's stated goal of acquiring two pitchers. There should be money for a bargain pitcher in January if there is anyone worth looking at.

[1992casey]

We are doing this a@@-backwards!

 

Note that circumvention of the filter violates Fan Forum Etiquette, but also note that "ass-backwards" is fine. I've edited "ass-backwards" back into the message above.

[endaround]

I guess I should say my overall opinion. I'd rather have Pavano or Penny on one year deals however that was unlikely but this much better than Washburn, Davis, or Garland. If you bring in Smoltz on a one year deal this would be great.

[PeaveyFury]

There is no room for another reliever so I don't know where that is coming from.

 

From Haudricourt's blog:

 

I've also been told that if the Brewers get Wolf, instead of immediately going after another starting pitcher, they'll try to sign an established late-inning reliever to provide set-up help for closer Trevor Hoffman along with Todd Coffey and Claudio Vargas, who is about to re-sign.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/78865647.html

 

And they're reportedly very close to signing Latroy Hawkins.

If you bring in Smoltz on a one year deal this would be great.

 

I agree- Smoltz as the 2nd pitcher would be great.

[pretendastronaut]

Can somebody give a scouting report...pitch types, speeds, etc for this fellow?

 

Not exactly what you asked for, but this is from ESPN Insider.

	ALL	FIRST PITCH	EARLY	TWO STRIKES	AHEAD	BEHIND	VS RHB	VS LHB	OPP BA
Fastballs	61%	64%	56%	66%	58%	68%	59%	68%	.262
Curves	18%	17%	22%	16%	24%	7%	20%	12%	.247
Sliders	10%	8%	10%	10%	11%	8%	8%	19%	.255
Change Ups	10%	10%	11%	8%	6%	16%	13%	1%	.272
Other	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%	0%	0%	.250
Totals	13947	3644	8234	3914	4978	3269	11192	2755	.260

[Funketown]

I think the odds are pretty high that Wolf is worth the 29 million over the life of the contract. I am really getting sick of people comparing Suppan to Wolf.

 

Seriously,

 

Career K/9

Wolf: 7.42

Suppan: 4.97

 

Career BB/9

Wolf: 3.24

Suppan: 3.07

 

Career K/BB

Wolf: 2.29

Suppan: 1.62

 

Career HR/9

Wolf: 1.13

Suppan: 1.19

 

Career ERA:

Wolf: 4.12

Suppan: 4.68

 

Career FIP:

Wolf: 4.28

Suppan: 4.85

 

Career xFIP:

Wolf: 4.24

Suppan: 4.65

 

Career tRA:

Wolf: 4.93

Suppan: 5.86

 

By all accounts, Wolf is about half a run better per nine innings. That's 10 runs in 180 innings. That is a massive difference. The only thing he has in common with Suppan is his age at the time of the signing.

[JonnyLungs]

I don't see why small market teams can't use free agency to fill in holes with the likes of Randy Wolf. Obviously small market teams will have a hard time competing for superstars. Superstars are what need to be grown from within. Free agency can be a valuable tool for picking up players like Randy Wolf that are complimentary pieces but still very solid players. I know as Brewer fans we have this fascination with scrap heap finds and that is how teams should operate when chasing 70 wins. Scrap heap players are still important obviously and should be sought out at all times, but continually relying on them and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle seems a bit foolish to me when there are solid options like Randy Wolf available for a reasonable amount of years and money.

 

I know the Twins get pumped up by some as an example of how small market teams should operate without giving guys like Wolf that kind of money. Does anybody remember them paying Livan Hernandez $5 million? Sidney Ponson? Joe Crede? Sure, it's a lot of one year contract but they still pay a fair amount of money each year to bring in veterans that they will ultimately discard because they stink.

 

At least with Wolf, we've got a pretty darn solid pitcher that may or may not regress instead of paying guys that we all know stink to come in and hope they somehow play well.

[homer]

This was the best option for the Brewers on the free agent market. They still need to obtain one other serviceable starter. It's a catch 22 - if they go free agent route for a proven starter they commit money long term which is risky, if they make a trade for someone that's up and coming they give up prospects or deplete the team's strength which is offense. Can't have it both ways. Risky move but had to be done. Even if Wolf regresses some he's still very valuable and worth more than $9 million per year. The big risk is injury of course but no one out there was wart free with the exception of Lackey who was out of the Brewers price range.