LaTroy Hawkins signs a 2 year/$7.5 mil deal with the Brewers

[dpapo]

Looks like the Brewers have also signed LaTroy Hawkins according the Ken Rosenthal.

 

http://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal

 

Edit: Looks like a 2 year deal.

[Invader3K]

All right. Probably want to change that title, though.

 

I wonder what the salary ends up being for him. He was certainly effective last season.

[dpapo]

I know, went a bit fast trying to post it. Thanks.

[And That]

It's a two-year deal. Still waiting on the dollars.

[jjkoestler]

Will 7,8,9 be Coffey, Hawkins, Hoffman or Hawkins, Coffey, Hoffman? I like the signing. Very solid bullpen.

[Invader3K]

Seems like a very solid 7th/8th/9th out of the bullpen either way.

[southpaw121505]

I like this as long as the dollar amount is reasonable. I think Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, CV can be a really solid pen

[nate82]

So the bullpen is going to look like this so far:

 

BP

Stetter

Vargas

Hawkins

Coffey

Hoffman

 

Question marks for the bullpen include: Villanueva, Narveson, Axford, McClung (probably going to be non tendered), Braddock, and Capuano. With two spots open in the bullpen now I believe Villanueva will be given a spot in the bullpen with Narveson, Axford, Capuano, and Braddock all getting shots in spring training. I would go with Villanueva and Narveson as the two long guys in the bullpen.

[JohnBriggs12]

Bringing in Hawkins along with the return of Vargas seems to me to make Coffey or Villanueva nice trade bait. Not sure I would give Hawkins 2 years though.

 

Another possibility is to send Villanueva who still has options to Nashville to work as a starter that could be called up in case of injury.

[Tedaldtada]

This a very good pen. If Hoffman goes down, things could get ugly though (we need you Braddock!) because no one else has the experience, a la Trevor Hoffman, or the stuff, like a Papelbon or Nathan, to be counted on in the closer role. Good depth otherwise. I really wonder if Axford will stack up next to these guys? I hope he is that good.

[lcbj68c]

I like this as long as the dollar amount is reasonable. I think Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, CV can be a really solid pen

CV being Vargas or Villanueva?

[sbrylski]

Have there been any rumors about the $$$ expectations? 2 years, between $4MM and $6MM?

 

EDIT: $7.5MM over 2 years - LINK

[PeaveyFury]

Nice addition pending the financial terms. Now Counsell, kick the tires on a couple lefty relievers, and either another solid starter or 2-3 'project' guys and I'm pretty happy.

[Funketown]

Looks like 2 years, 7.5 million. You've got to wonder if the Brewers have a bit more cash to spend than we had thought. Still though, I think this is about 2-3 million more than he should have gotten. Don't really get this signing.

[The Truth]

I like the signing but if you put alot of belief in BaseballReference.com's "Sim Scores", he's most similar to David Weathers and Braden Looper!!!

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hawkila01.shtml

[rluzinski]

Was melvin tricked into overvaluing Hawkins based on his flukish 2010 LOB% of 91%? He's what, a true 3.7ish ERA reliever? This better not be more than 2/$6 mil.

 

Probably wil be.

 

EDIT: $7.5 mil, huh? Guess I don't see it but owell.

[endaround]

Uggh. Now the Brewers will have a $15m pen. Hoffman and Hawkings for 90 innings or a good starter for 180?

[chadomac]

Good pitcher, but I don't think we needed to pay this much for a decent reliever. I would've rather put any extra cash towards one of the high-risk/high-ceiling guys like Harden, Duscherer, etc.

[southpaw121505]

CV being Vargas or Villanueva?

My bad, I consider Villy as more of a lock than Vargas. Power in numbers when it comes to MLB pens though

[RyDogg66]

7.5 million over two years is about what he made the past two years, so cant really get too upset about that considering his numbers that past two years.

[JohnBriggs12]

Personally, I don't see the need either unless they had teams calling about Coffey that had something to offer that they really liked.

[patrickgpe]

i like this with respect to it puts a bunch of former closers in the pen. The problem with the pen in the past is that there was no depth. People are now complaining that we have too much depth. Last year went bad when they were forced to try to go to the minors to fill pitching spots and they had nobody to go to.

 

Im suprised by this though because i did read somewhere that the astros were looking at making him their closer, so im guess we had to overpay to get him to setup.

 

Also if the brewers need a closer in '11, he will be an OK option.

[rluzinski]

7.5 million over two years is about what he made the past two years, so cant really get too upset about that considering his numbers that past two years.

I see a 3.65 FIP and 63 IP/year. He also turns 37 this year. It's not like this is a big contract but what's the point? For the Brewers to compete in the coming years, Melvin needed to do something special. Instead, he signed a couple of guys for more than they are worth (IMO, obviously). Anyone can go into a car dealer and buy a $20k car for $22k. Melvin needed to get a $25k car for $22k.

[JoeHova]

Somebody in the Wolf thread said that that was a very inside the box move. This is even more of an inside the box idea. Hawkins will probably be OK but will he really be worth the money he's getting? Is there any chance that he'll outperform his contract?

[Invader3K]

If he's anything close to what he was last year, than it's a fantastic value.