Brewers sign best available free agent

Let's call it like it is, the Brewers needed a starting pitcher. Randy Wolf was arguably the best pitcher available. They got him. What the hell is everone whining about? Yes, it's too much money but free agents always get too much money. Alcides Escobar will be one of the most valuable players on the Brewers this season and he will make the league minimum. Jeff Suppan will be one of the worst and he'll be the highest paid. Randy Wolf is overpaid for his performance and Alcides Escobar and Ryan Braun are underpaid for theirs. That's how it works. It's stupid, but that's how it works. So, it's not too much money because it already is too much money. (That makes sense, right?)

Is it too many years? Not really. You can expect Wolf to be average to above average this year with a slight drop off next year and then anything can happen in the third year. (Hopefully.) He could age well or he couldn't. I've been staring at his Baseball Reference page like it was the Carrie Prejean sextape for about two weeks now trying to figure him out and I think I'm getting there. Randy Wolf has only been awesome twice, last year and 2002. Don't expect him to be awesome. Yet he's only been crappy twice, his rookie year (doesn't count) and 2006 when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Don't expect him to be crappy either. After that every season of his career has been average to slightly above average and if he can do that, the Brewers will be extremely happy and you should be too.

Of course, the name everyone brings up when the team signs a starting pitcher in his 30s who has been mostly average in his career is Jeff Suppan. Randy Wolf is not Jeff Suppan. For one, it's three years not four. For two, throughout his career Wolf has been better at striking people out with a lower WHIP and ERA. For three, he hates Brewers Charities and thinks all poor people should die. He may resemble Suppan in some ways, but he is a better pitcher. Period. You may not like the money he's getting or the amount of years he got, but the Brewers had a need and they filled it with the best guy they could. So what if it cost them an extra couple million to do it? It's certainly better than round two of Braden Looper. Randy Wolf was the best available pitcher on the market for the Brewers to sign and despite not even wanting to come to Milwaukee, we got him. We should be excited.