Wolf released

[TooLiveBrew]

People are going to rip Wolf. I agree that he isn't the pitcher he was with the Phillies. I also agree that he has no place in our future. However, I thought he competed the best he could with the stuff he has. He was much more valuable than Suppan and his contract wasn't nearly as big of albatross. He won a play-off game for us and I wish him luck.

Same here. Adam McCalvy has a blog post with the reaction from Randy, & he definitely keeps it classy:

 

Wolf addressed the media on Wednesday and said he had no hard feelings about what happened.

 

“I’ve known about it,” Wolf said. “I think the way the organization has treated me through this has been outstanding. They just wanted to give me a heads up. I think how much respect they showed me through this process was pretty amazing. I just wanted to thank them for everything. It’s really unfortunate that this year was the way it was, and there’s nobody more disappointed about it than I am.”

[chadomac]

Good luck to him. He performed well his first year and above-and-beyond what I expected out of him his 2nd year of his contract. No regrets.

[TURBO]

So, I'm assuming, and hoping, there is 0% chance we would resign him next year?

 

At least this puts the chance of that happening to bed.

 

*relief*

[Bombers]

So the question is, do the A's pick him up? He might have some value as a pitcher in the pen. His ERA in the first 2 innings this year is sub 5. LHB, hit .274 against him. I am sure he could end up on a contending teams relief staff

[dlk9s]

He was much more valuable than Suppan and his contract wasn't nearly as big of albatross.

Wolf's contract wasn't any sort of albatross at all.

 

And aside from the silly Kottaras/Lucroy thing, Wolf seemed like a good teammate. Looked like he was tight with the other pitchers and the guys seemed to like him.

[1992casey]

Really happy about this.

 

I think the move is appropriate, but I can't be happy about something I see as sad.

[brewmann04]

Good Luck to Randy and thanks for two very soild seasons here.

[Crew2323]

As of this moment, Randy Wolf is the number 1 trending topic on twitter. Unbelievable.

 

Edit: Nevermind. He was number 1 in my "tailored trends." I thought that was too unbelievable to be true.

[chadomac]

If he wants to pitch more this year, I think someone will sign him for the minimum. Maybe he'll take the rest of the year off, though. Sounds nice.

[igor67]

One could complain, but even for having a very bad year he didn't implode to the point you had to find yet another starter mid-year. That could have caused some issues with having to rush guys up. The minor league arms seem to have done a solid job of developing this year, but Thornburg got a bit wobbly and Peralta had that rough spot if we had been forced to keep running them out at the major league level it could have been a disaster for them. As other have said 2 very respectable and important years, and a bad 3rd was hardly the reason we missed the playoffs.

[Roderick]

I think the Brewers kept hoping Wolf would put together a string of 3 good starts so some team would bite. It never happened. He had one decent one vs. the Reds a couple weeks ago, but couldn't follow it up.

 

Adios Randy!

 

They should have thrown him in the pen three weeks ago. Couldn't have been too much worse than what we were using and it was possible he could have done something knowing he only had to pitch an inning. Plus if he would have pitched halfway decent, maybe some sucker would have picked him and pick up next year's buyout.

[RobDeer 45]

This being an "appropriate move" is well said. I enjoyed having him on the staff and wish him the best. Seems like a good dude and came in and did what we needed him to do for a few years.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Wolf doesn't have to worry anymore. A job just opened up in Oakland with his buddy Kottaras after Colon got suspended.

[Roderick]

One could complain, but even for having a very bad year he didn't implode to the point you had to find yet another starter mid-year. That could have caused some issues with having to rush guys up. The minor league arms seem to have done a solid job of developing this year, but Thornburg got a bit wobbly and Peralta had that rough spot if we had been forced to keep running them out at the major league level it could have been a disaster for them.

I know this is kin to swearing, but we could have ran Claudio Vargas out there if we didn't want to rush the kids and he would have given us what Wolf did (or more).

[torts]

i saw on another site "a gallardo win would be a great way to start a post-wolf era" and I literally yelled "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT". thanks for the memories Randy, hope you land elsewhere!

[splitterpfj]

Randy Wolf gave the Brewers all they could have hoped for over the first two years of his contract here, but this year, it just hasn't worked. I like him, and I wish him well.

 

Thanks Randy!

[rluzinski]

I suspect that the Brewer told Wolf that they would be using his spot in the rotation to audition some younger guys. They may have given him the option of going into the bullpen or being released and choose to be released. Just guessing though, obviously. I would rather have Wolf in the pen that Hernandez, for sure.

 

Personally, I couldn't care less about under-performing players being "held accountable" for bad play. I only care about the Brewers doing what's in their best interest going foward.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I for one am going to miss those 49 mph curve balls. Best of luck Randy...despite the struggles this year, he seemed like a great teammate and pitched well the last couple seasons. That NLCS game in St. Louis was a beauty. I'll be rooting for him wherever he lands...except for St. Louis or Chicago that is.

[Daubs]

I suspect that the Brewer told Wolf that they would be using his spot in the rotation to audition some younger guys. They may have given him the option of going into the bullpen or being released and choose to be released. Just guessing though, obviously. I would rather have Wolf in the pen that Hernandez, for sure.

 

Personally, I couldn't care less about under-performing players being "held accountable" for bad play. I only care about the Brewers doing what's in their best interest going foward.

 

Tom Haudricourt mentioned on the D-List (540 AM) that the Brewers had been talking to Wolf and his agent. They came to an agreement that it might be best to cut ties. Unfortunately, Doug Melvin didn't know that today was Wolf's birthday and was very apologetic for the timing.

[Funketown]

I also wondered immediately if the Brewers gave Wolf the option of pitching out of the pen. He'd be a more effective innings eater than Livan Hernandez.

 

The garbage with Kottaras was annoying, but Wolf was pretty productive during his first two seasons in Milwaukee, and quite frankly if Wolf would have put up a ~4 ERA this season it wouldn't have made much of a difference. With the way he gives up HR's, and the BArtolo COloN suspension, Oakland seems like it might be the landing spot for our favorite sheep in Wolf's clothing.

[Baldkin]

I think Segura's injury also expedited things and a move needed to be made immediately.

[torts]

I am going to really miss seeing the Eupheus pitch

[adambr2]

Randy can take solace in the fact that the Brewers have undoubtedly ruined many other birthdays this summer before his.

[TracyThom]

Randy ended his Brewer career with a 29-32 regular season record. He took the ball every 5th day and never made excuses about his poor outings. Plus, his pitching performance against the Cardinals in last year's NLCS was about the only bright spot in the entire series. Thanks Randy.

[logan82]

While he was bad this year I think the contract overall was a good one. I personally wouldn't have released him but if they had plans to audition young guys I am not sure where Wolf would have fit in. Outside of the personal catcher stuff I was very happy to have him on the team. Good luck Randy.