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Dec. 11, 2000: Before this date 12 years ago, the largest contract in baseball history belonged to pitcher Mike Hampton, who signed just days earlier for eight years, $121 million. Then Alex Rodriguez happened. Yes, the man who would go on to b...

There are so many bad contracts in sports. And what I've found is that nothing gets fans more riled up at the office cooler than their favorite teams foolishly spending money. It's not the fans' money, but they think that awful spending could lead to...

In this week's Six, Marty Smith writes about what athletes do when they aren't athletes anymore. For many, there is never a replacement in their lives.

A contract never starts off "bad," per se. Obviously, a general manager signs a player to a contract with the intent that the player will help the team win, even if the GM knows the criticism over dollars and years is out there. The contract ofte...

Blog | May 04, 2012

Getty Images/Associated Press The Mets face (l to r) Drew Pomeranz, ageless Jamie Moyer and Jeremy Guthrie this weekend at Coors Field. METS (11-8, third place/NL East) vs. COLORADO ROCKIES (9-9, third place/NL West) Friday: RHP Chris Schwinden ...

To add some perspective to the overall rise of the strikeout, let's make a quick switch to the conversation and move from K/9 to the total percentage of plays that end with a strikeout. That done, this year pitchers are striking out batters 18.4 p...

Mike Hampton walks away from the game after helping redefine the art of pitching in a high-offense era with his cutter.

Some quick takes at news items from around the majors: 1. Yankees start with Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova in the rotation, put Bartolo Colon in the bullpen. Take: Thumbs up. Garcia has had a poor spring, but deserves the initial chance over Colo...

Veteran left-hander Mike Hampton retired Saturday, ending a 16-year big league career after giving up on a bid to earn a roster spot with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Numbers and statistics are one of my favorite things about baseball. As I often do, I was browsing through Baseball-Reference the other day before stumbling upon Brian Bohanon's 1999 season for the Colorado Rockies. Bohanon's season wasn't particular...

Pinch-hitter Jonathan Herrera's sacrifice fly off Mike Hampton broke a seventh-inning tie and the Colorado Rockies rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 Saturday night for their ninth straight victory.

Left-hander Mike Hampton is back in the majors after having his contract selected by the Diamondbacks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed left-hander Mike Hampton to a minor league contract.

DYNAMIC DUO: According to ESPN.com's John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating - a per-minute, pace-adjusted rating of a player's statistical productivity - Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were the 2nd and 4th most efficient players in the NBA this season...

Today's Trivia: With his 6-0 start, Ubaldo Jimenez can probably book his trip to L.A. for the All-Star Game already. Who are the only four Rockies starting pitchers to be selected to the All-Star Game? Quick Hits: Yesterday we covered the rookie pit...

Upon the news that Mike Hampton is going to miss yet another season with yet another serious injury, Babes Love Baseball offers ... shall we say, a slightly different perspective: Hampton All Mike Hampton...