One less competitor for Wolf

It was believed that the Astros were the top contender for left handed starting pitcher Randy Wolf's services. Wolf enjoyed his stay in Houston and the Astros were happy with the results they recieved from the mid-season acquisition. But the Astros have been rumored to be having financial difficulties and they pretty much confirmed that when they told Wolf that they would have to slow negotiations down.

The Astros remain interested in working out a long-term deal with Wolf, but on Tuesday, general manager Ed Wade informed Wolf's agent, Arn Tellem, that the club wants to get its arms around the payroll situation "before moving forward at any rapid rate." source MLB.com

Those negotiations appear to have been put on hold permanently as it's being reported the Astros have signed left handed starter Mike Hampton. So the Astros found a lefty for their rotation who is much cheaper and didn't cost a long term commitment. Of course, Hampton is a huge injury risk but at 2M for one year he makes sense for a team worried about the bottom line. The only way I now see the Astros signing Wolf is if they dump salary in a trade.

Hampton has agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with the chance to earn another $2 million in appearance-based incentives, according to a major-league source. source Fox sports

Early on this off-season it was believed the Mets would sign two starting pitchers, a # 2-3 level and a fifth starter. However, Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported today that the Mets are comfortable with Jon Niese as the fifth starter and are only looking for a #2-3 level starter. The Mets were believed to be interested in Wolf early on, but I'm not sure if he still fits the bill if they're only looking for one starter. If the Mets are interested, with the Hampton signing it just became much easier.

The Mets are looking at Randy Wolf in addition to Lowe and their own Oliver Perez. source SI.com

The 32 y/o left hander has a lifetime record of 90-78 with a 4.26 ERA. He spent his first eight seasons with the Phillies and was a very popular figure, at home games on nights he would start fans would where wolf masks. Last year in 32 starts he went 12-12 with an ERA of 4.30 between San Diego and Houston.