Dan Kolb Signs For 1 Year at $2 Mil

Looks like Melvin and Boras finally came to an agreement:

Brewers re-sign Kolb for 2006

It's a one year deal with a base salary of $2 million but he can earn more through incentives. He's been penciled in as the setup guy, behind Turnow.

My initial reaction was similar to many others; Why so much? The sad reality is, however, that the cost of relief pitching as gone up drastically this off season. If Melvin felt he needed a another reliever, then $2 mil is probably the market asking price.

I wonder if Melvin has any intention of keeping Kolb for the full year in 2006? Established relievers can get quite a return from playoff hopeful teams via a trade at the deadline. If Kolb can put together a good first couple of months, Melvin might get $1 million back and a prospect or two to boot. Might be a good gamble to take.

The question is, what Dan Kolb are we getting? Was Kolb's poor performance last year the exception or the rule?