Hampton says no to Braves

Now that he’s finally healthy, pitcher Mike Hampton is bolting the Braves.

The veteran free agent agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with Houston, taking less money than the Braves offered in order to be closer to his children in Arizona, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Hampton, 36, went 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA in 13 starts for the Braves this year after missing nearly three seasons recovering from two elbow surgeries and other injuries.

He finally got healthy last summer and posted a 3.72 ERA with eight quality starts in his last nine games. The pitching-thin Braves hoped to re-sign him to an incentive-laden one-year contract.

Instead, Hampton opted for a slightly lesser deal with Houston that includes an opportunity to make about $2 million in additional incentives based on staying healthy and making starts, according to the two people familiar with the situation. He is going through a divorce and wanted to be closer to his children in Arizona.

The Braves paid the left-hander $48.5 million over six seasons, during which he made 85 starts and went 35-24 with a 4.10 ERA in 509 2/3 innings.

That works out to about $570,000 per start, $1.39 million per win, or $95,160 per inning, although insurance paid portions of his salary while he was on the disabled list.

Hampton made $78.5 million during that six-year stretch, the rest paid by the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins as part of the three-team trade that brought him to Atlanta in November 2002.

He signed a then-record eight-year, $121 million contract with Colorado before the 2001 season and was traded after two disappointing seasons.

After going 63-31 with a 3.30 ERA in 133 starts over the four seasons before he signed the huge contract, Hampton went 56-52 with a 4.81 ERA in 147 starts during the eight-year deal.

Hampton pitched for the Astros for six seasons (1994-99), including his 22-4 year in 1999 when he was the Cy Young Award runner-up to Randy Johnson.

His new contract won’t be finalized until the injury-plagued left-hander passes a physical today in Houston. The deal wasn’t expected to be announced until Wednesday.

THE SIX-YEAR OUCH

A comparison of Mike Hampton’s statistics with the Astros (1994-99) and the Braves (2003-08):

Team……GS….W-L……ERA

Astros….151 ..69-40….3.40

Braves…..85 ..35-24….4.10