Some of you intellectual-types might have been thinking, "Hey. What about Randy Wolf?" Like the Astros a year ago, the Dodgers were ignorant enough to decline arbitration to The Wolf. So he wouldn't cost the Astros any draft picks to bring him back. Perfect, right? Hold up, says Ed Wade:
"I love Randy Wolf and wish we could have done something a year ago [to sign him]. I don't think it's going to happen here. We haven't had those types of conversations. I suspect with the performance Randy turned in this past season coupled with what he did for us the second half of the '08 season, the numbers will be beyond us."
I bet the whole "We'll give you $29 million for three years. Wait. No, we won't," fiasco of last year would leave a bit of a sour taste in Wolf's mouth in negotiations this time around. Wade is probably correct - Wolf will get more than the $5 million he got from the Dodgers in 2009 after an 11-7 season with a 3.23 ERA.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
