December 03, 2003
Hawk in the Windy City
The Cubs have signed LaTroy Hawkins to a 3-year, $11 million deal. The Cub Reporter makes an important point :
I'll take the question mark off the title when it becomes official, but for now I will say this: Hawkins is good. In fact, in three of the last four years, he's been very good, and in the last two I'd even say he's been great.
Ironically, the only year he struggled as a reliever was the year he spent as the Twins' closer. Keep that in mind when Dusty starts pitting him against JoeBo in the spring because he's a "proven" closer. I would say he's a proven closer the same way he's a proven starter; he's proven that, when put in that role, he doesn't perform well. If Dusty feels the need to not pitch Hawkins until the 9th inning next year, it won't be the most effective allocation of resources, but it won't be the end of the world, either.
Of course, Dusty has to be willing to warm up pitchers before his starters get in trouble for them to be effective. At least he won't have to worry about LaTroy wilting in the heat. :-)
On another note, so far the free agents that have been signed are not getting outrageous amounts of money. If Sheffield signs with the Yankees for the reported amount, the New Yorkers are getting a pretty good deal. I never thought we'd see three years in a row where we didn't set a new record for highest salary.
Update: Fixed link.
