1:20pm: The Diamondbacks have officially announced the signing on Twitter. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports (also on Twitter) that Wolf's base salary upon being promoted to the Majors would be $1MM.
11:44am: The Diamondbacks have reached an agreement with veteran left-hander Randy Wolf on a minor league deal, tweets MLBTR's Zach Links. The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro first reported that the two sides were close to a deal, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that Wolf will start for the club's Triple-A affiliate as soon as Monday. Wolf is represented by the Wasserman Media Group.
The veteran Wolf hasn't pitched in the Major Leagues since 2012 due to Tommy John surgery. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners this offseason and had been informed that he made the club as the team's fifth starter. However Wolf requested his release when the Mariners asked him to sign a 45-day advance-consent release clause that would allow the team to release him and pay him just a pro-rated portion of his guaranteed salary for any reason other than an injury.
General manager Kevin Towers recently told reporters that he expected to add a veteran starter on a minor league deal in the coming days, and Wolf certainly fits that bill. The 14-year veteran owns a career 4.20 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 39 percent ground-ball rate with the Phillies, Brewers, Padres, Dodgers, Orioles and Astros. The final season of the three-year, $28.5MM contract he signed with the Brewers didn't turn out well, as he wound up posting a 5.65 ERA in 157 2/3 innings between Milwaukee and Baltimore that year before being diagnosed with a torn UCL. However, in the year prior, Wolf posted a strong 3.69 ERA in 212 1/3 innings for the Brew Crew — his fourth straight season of 190 or more innings.
Wolf will provide rotation depth for a team that has seen its starting pitchers post a combined 6.57 ERA to this point in the young season — the second-worst mark in all of Major League Baseball.
Wow… the Wolf Man is back
I could see Wolf being a serviceable back end starter for a nonplayoff team. Which is what the Diamondbacks are increasingly looking like.
More like the middle of the staff for the Reno Aces.
Wolf was pretty decent in 2011 and was clearly hurt in 2012. It’s a long shot that he makes a comeback but he’s had success in the NL West. I wish him the best.
I’d rather prove my wares on a non-guaranteed job in Seattle than in PCL/Arizona dry air hell on a MiLB contract…
He would have been without a job in 45 days anyway, so what’s the difference?
And this is supposed to be our solution for the rotation we have? Wolf will only make a team worse if he starts, maybe as a reliever he’d be alright, but his time as a starter has come and gone.
I have to admit that I didn’t realize Wolf’s numbers were as good as they were from 2009-2011. He got absolutely beat like a pinata in 2012, but those 3 season prior to that were solid performances.