Hawkins signs 2-year deal with Brewers

MILWAUKEE -- Right after the season ended, LaTroy Hawkins decided he would attend the winter meetings. It turned out to be a worthwhile trip.

Hawkins and the Milwaukee Brewers completed their $7.5 million, two-year contract Wednesday after agreeing to a deal last week at the meetings in Indianapolis, about 2 hours from where the reliever grew up in Gary, Ind.

"It was my idea," said Hawkins, discouraged from attending the event by his agents following a strong year with the Houston Astros. "When it's all said and done, I like to tell people that I'm the boss. So I make the decisions, so I told them I was coming."

Now he's coming to Milwaukee to join a late-innings relief corps that includes Todd Coffey and career saves leader Trevor Hoffman. Coffey is known for sprinting from the bullpen to the mound, and Hoffman walks into AC/DC's "Hells Bells."

"I'm the opposite of both of those guys," Hawkins joked. "I have no music and I don't sprint out onto the field. I take my own sweet time."

Hawkins, a right-hander who turns 37 on Monday, spent the last 1 1/2 seasons with Houston. He went 1-4 with a 2.13 ERA and 11 saves this year, compiling 45 strikeouts and 16 walks in 63 1/3 innings.

A veteran of 15 major league seasons, he is 60-81 with 87 saves and a 4.51 ERA. He also has pitched for Minnesota, the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco, Baltimore, Colorado and the New York Yankees.

"I like to tell the young guys there's not too many things they're going to go through in this game that I haven't been through, so I've got a lot of advice, a lot of good advice," Hawkins said. "I've been through a lot in baseball, good and bad."

Milwaukee agreed earlier to a $29.75 million, three-year contract with left-hander Randy Wolf.

"We had the opportunity again to sell the Brewers, the same way that we did with Randy, talking about the 3 million in attendance the last two years, talking about our ownership committed to winning, talking about the ballclub," general manager Doug Melvin said. "That's what I've enjoyed about with both Randy Wolf and LaTroy, their passion for the game."