Even if Hampton didn't make the equivalent of the GNP a medium sized South American country right now, I would be hesitant to pick up a pitcher who needs the regain his confidence in the the stretch drive of a pennant. What's the word on Carlos Hernandez? He reminds me of Hampton.
Once Hernandez comes back he will take a while to regain his confidence. It has been a while since he pitched without getting shelled, although the shelling was due to the injury. It will still mess with his head.
Cubbies want to do a Hampton-Hundley swap. Hmmm, lets see, you've got a club run on basically a shoestring budget, relative to the market; AND said club has won basically jack squat for more that a few decades. So what do they wanna do? Acquire a pitcher (who's owed $120 M by the way) who has been utterly & completely gut-wrenchingly terrible for over 1.5 seasons now. Even if (this is about as likely as me winning the lotto, without buying tickets) he starts to pitch like vintage Koufax, that's a terrible contract, especially for a cost-conscious club like the Cubbies. Don't they think that money could be better spent elsewhere? http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0809/1415999.html
Buck Although Hampton's contract is terrible considering the way he has been pitching, isn't Hundley's pretty bad too? It would be interesting to see the actual dollar difference between the two. Hundley is absolutely the worst supposed front-line catcher in baseball. He can't hit and he can't throw.
Hampton isn't owed 120 million. His contract was 121 million total value when it was signed. 20 million of that was a signing bonus. I believe he is owed somewhere in the neighborhood of 80+million for the next six years. Some of that is deferred too. Money aside, I'd love to see him pitch for the stros again. but putting money aside aint Drayton's specialty.
Carlos pitched a rehab game in Round Rock the night before last I think. He was on a 65 pitch limit. I imagine he will be making a few starts before coming back up. BTW, Tim Redding struck out 12 in 6 innings of AAA ball the other night although he got a no decision. Can't wait for him to pull things together at the next level. Tim reminds me a little bit of Schilling when he was with the Stros. You know he has lots of talent but it can be so frustrating waiting for it to surface.
Hundley's only signed for another 2 years ($12.5M); I completely agree with your assessment of his playing ability, he's absolutely worthless. Lieber's done for next season (elbow surgery) so I guess the Cubbies want a vet to complement their nucleus of good youngsters. I just don't understand the fascination many have with Hampton. Yeah, he was very good 2 years ago, but he's got absolutely nothing now. And it's not just mental - his delivery is so screwed that he's had to stop throwing certain pitches (slider or cutter I think) because he can't control them. Colorado messed up big time with that contract & I have no idea why anyone would want to bail them out of it. Then again it's not my $90M (thanks for the correction Dusty). Carlos pitched very well Wed (3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 B, 4 K) and after giving up a HR on the first pitch of the game, he settled down nicely. No complaints of pain after the game either, which is very good news. I would suppose he'll make 2-3 more rehab starts & be back with the big boys in less than 2 weeks. Dusty, I agree with the Schilling/Redding comparison. I think once he gains a little maturity he'll be a beast.
