Hawkins contract complete
One more UPDATE on Dec. 17: Thanks to Twitter follower @TheronJay, who pointed out that you can’t give incentives for saves. I double-checked and was misinformed on Wednesday; Hawkins’ bonuses are tied to appearances and games finished, not saves.
UPDATE at 1:45 p.m. CT: It’s a done deal, the Brewers say. Hawkins will meet with the media at Miller Park at 3: 30 p.m. CT.
UPDATE again at 2:25 p.m. CT: I confirmed the terms of Hawkins’ contract and learned that he can earn $275,000 in incentives each season, not over the length of the full two years. The bonuses are based on a combination of saves appearances and games finished. In other words, if something happens to Trevor Hoffman and Hawkins spends significant time as the closer, he could earn a total of $8.05 million.
LaTroy Hawkins’ two-year, $7.5 million deal with the Brewers was finalized Wednesday afternoon after the right-hander passed a physical. Here’s the breakdown of his’ contract:
Hawkins gets a $3 million salary with a $500,000 signing bonus in 2010, then $4 million in 2011. He can earn an additional $275,000 in incentives per season, based on appearances and games finished.
Hawkins, who turns 37 on Monday, is the team’s second significant free agent pick-up from the Winter Meetings — the other, of course, was Randy Wolf – and he projects to pitch alongside workhorse Todd Coffey as set-up men to closer Trevor Hoffman. Hawkins also has some saves to his credit and could fill-in as closer on days Hoffman is unavailable.
In 65 games last season for the Astros, Hawkins posted a 2.13 ERA, 19 holds and 11 saves. He worked 63 1/3 innings with 45 strikeouts and only 16 walks. Of the 16 runs he allowed, eight scored on home runs.
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Adam McCalvy
