Hampton to the Astros
That’s what ESPN is reporting anyway:
Pitcher Mike Hampton has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Houston Astros pending a physical exam, two baseball sources told ESPN.com. The contract will pay Hampton a base salary of about $2 million plus incentives, the source said . . .
. . . Hampton spent the past four seasons with the Braves but did not pitch in 2006 and ’07 because of injuries. In 2008, he was 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA after missing the first four months of the season because of injury.
I am a Braves fan who doesn’t hold anything personal against Mike Hampton, but I would have bet my children that he’s been with Atlanta for at least the last 67 years.
Yeah, it’s hard to hold his injuries against him. We always heard how he was working so hard to get back. Still, it appears his loyalty/guilt to the Braves didn’t last too long.
Wow. I wouldn’t have guessed he was even still an active player.
Does anyone here truly think that Hampton is worth anything? Sure, he’s a worthwhile risk if you get him at a low price, which they did, but his injury history is just a little to much to pay 2 million for.
I’d be willing to go 1 million with major incentives (20 starts = extra 2.5 mil)
-Zach Sanders
http://www.mlbnotebook.com
Actually saw him pitch a couple times last year, and really he didn’t look all that bad. He was at least serviceable. If the injury thing is finally over, he may be able to make a little out of this, although being a lefty and pitching in MM may be a small problem. As far as the loyalty to ATL thing, I kinda think they may want to go in another direction now.
Two million seems a bit high considering at best he’s a number 3 or 4. Prior only got 1 I thought and he could be an ace. Considering word out of Houston has the Current Payroll at 20 million more than the target, I would say this is not a solution.
I think he is. It’s worth the gamble. If he stays healthy, he’s a good back-of-the-rotation guy, and if he gets hurt, it was only $2M. I’m betting he ends up as one of the steals of the off-season (granted, I thought he was due for a comeback season this year, and that didn’t exactly pan out). It’s a guess, but for the Astros, it was a cheap one.