MILWAUKEE � Right after the season ended, LaTroy Hawkins decided he would attend the winter meetings. It turned out to be a worthwhile trip.

Hawkins and the Milwaukee Brewers completed their $7.5 million, two-year contract Wednesday after agreeing to a deal last week at the meetings in Indianapolis, about 2 hours from where the reliever grew up in Gary, Ind.
�It was my idea,� said Hawkins, discouraged from attending the event by his agents following a strong year with the Houston Astros. �When it�s all said and done, I like to tell people that I�m the boss. So I make the decisions, so I told them I was coming.�
Now he�s coming to Milwaukee to join a late-innings relief corps that includes Todd Coffey and career saves leader Trevor Hoffman. Coffey is known for sprinting from the bullpen to the mound, and Hoffman walks into AC/DC�s �Hells Bells.�
�I�m the opposite of both of those guys,� Hawkins joked. �I have no music and I don�t sprint out onto the field. I take my own sweet time.�
Hawkins, a right-hander who turns 37 on Monday, spent the last 1� seasons with Houston. He went 1-4 with a 2.13 ERA and 11 saves this year, compiling 45 strikeouts and 16 walks in 63 1-3 innings.
A veteran of 15 major league seasons, he is 60-81 with 87 saves and a 4.51 ERA. He also has pitched for Minnesota, the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco, Baltimore, Colorado and the New York Yankees.
�I like to tell the young guys there�s not too many things they�re going to go through in this game that I haven�t been through, so I�ve got a lot of advice, a lot of good advice,� Hawkins said. �I�ve been through a lot in baseball, good and bad.�
Milwaukee agreed earlier to a $29.75 million, three-year contract with left-hander Randy Wolf.
�We had the opportunity again to sell the Brewers, the same way that we did with Randy, talking about the 3 million in attendance the last two years, talking about our ownership committed to winning, talking about the ballclub,� general manager Doug Melvin said. �That�s what I�ve enjoyed about with both Randy Wolf and LaTroy, their passion for the game.�