Hampton - this is a guy who is the very essence of what is wrong with sports. Many people would call him shrewd. To me he is just a lazy freakin hypocrite. Hampton should go work for CountryWide so he can be amongst like minds.

hampton should pitch for the braves for free considering how much money they wasted on him. he has been one big money pit

I'm looking at Randy Johnson's stats from his "Joke Cy Young" year. <br /><br />17-9. 364 K's in 271 IP. Only 70 BB's. A 2.48 ERA in 35 starts, 12 CG's. While pitching half the time in a hitter's park. <br /><br />Hampton had these numbers:<br /><br />22-4. 177 K's in 239 IP. 101 BB's. A 2.90 ERA in 34 starts, 3 CG's. While pitching half the time in a pitcher's park. <br /><br />Yeah, it's a "joke" that Hampton lost out. Someone is munching crack brownies.

I don't remember the Astros going 24-138 last year. Why else would a team be desperate enough to sign an injury plagued once-decent pitcher to a $2,000,000 contract, after a sparkling 3-4 4.85 season (in the NL, where HR's have become a rarity except from Pujols, Howard, and .230 hitters.) Hampton hasn't done squat since the second he signed that stupid, stupid contract my Rockies foolishly handed over to him. The Astros won't get three outs for their investment, I predict. =p

Why are so many of you crying about Hampton owing somebody something? This isn't Plexico being a complete tool or Ricky Williams refusing to play (and he's making amens to the Fins). It's a guy whos body didn't hold up. I've always liked Mike as a player and feel bad that he had to suffer through Randy Johnson's "Joke Cy Young" in '99.

Hampton is a hard nose player with a ton of class buy the Braves uniform was truely unkind, I hope he pitches well for the Astros and if all else fails they should give him a shot in the OF. He can hit and run extremely well!

Who knows, Hampton could end up turning it around if he stays healthy and the Astros could end up getting a good deal. As someone said in an earlier post, at $2m, they are not risking a whole lot in today's contract dollars. What happened to the Braves with Hampton, happens to all teams at some time or other. In some cases, it is a situation where the guy is not injured but he just flops. I can see though how Braves fans would be disenchanted as to the fact that Hampton did not take that cheap one year deal with them, to try to make up for the big dollar years where he didn't pitch at all or hardly at all.

I like Hampton but he should have to give some money back to the Braves, what an anchor!

The Bank Heist,Has Gotten Away To Texas.

Despite the Braves devastated rotation, I'm not sorry to see Mr. Hampton go. He didn't belong in this organization and certainly didn't earn his pay.

Not true, Zoinks, that 'Stros had nothing behind Oswalt and Rodriguez. Wolf had a terrific second half. Rotation: Oswalt, Rodriguez, Wolf, Moehler, Hampton.

I wish I had 2 million to throw in the garbage,burn and then pee on.

Why would anyone use the word integrity in talking about Mike Hampton...He showed his lack of class when he took off on the Mets.. Dont be mad at Mike, I guess he heard about the schools in Houston.

Looks like the Stros are showing some common sense. They are desperate for pitching, and got Hampton for what, in baseball terms, is chump change. Have no expectations that he will return to his performance levels from his previous stay in Houston, but may be able to eat some innings.

Hampton really "owes" the Braves players, front office and mostly the fan's a duty to come back at a discounted rate and show us what he was worth and "earn" a new salary from whatever team takes him in 2010...it's the only decent thing he could do...INTEGRITY is another word we could use...

does that say he spent 2 years in new york? good job. hampton pitch for the mets for 1 year. 2000 the year they went the series.

I guess that BS Hampton spewed about wanting to stay in Atlanta to try to make ammends for all of those years of pine riding.<br /><br />What im trying to figure out is if the Braves made him an offer. I cant imagine that we couldnt top 2 million 1 year contract with an option for year 2.<br /><br />Strange.

Zoink; great post.<br /><br />After what Hampton did to the Braves, he should either return half of what he earns to Atlanta or at the very least; donate it to charity.<br /><br />Talk about a fleece job...

Hampton's 8-year contract finally expired after the 2008 season. The Rockies, Marlins and Braves are all relieved of their fiduciary duties to Mr. Hampton. Gotta hand it to Schuerholz... he got the Marlins (of all teams) to kick in a chunk of Hampton's salary even though all they did was act as a "through station" for Hampton on his way from Colorado to Atlanta in a 3-team trade. That's sheer brilliance; get your division rival to help pay for one of your players. Schuerholz should go to the Hall of Fame as one of the best baseball execs of all time. On the flip side, Hampton may regret returning to Houston. He left there when he was healthy, and Houston had more of a pitchers' park. Now there's Minute Maid Field, where bad balls find the outfield fences with stunning regularity. The Astros didn't have anything in the rotation behind Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez, but this could come back to bite them hard.

Isn't Hampton still cashing coin from his old Rockies days?