Going... going... Gagne! (1 Viewer)

[DropKick]

Gagne's option to turn down arbitration means that, expected, he won't be back in Boston.

What happened with Gagne this season? Is he past his prime? Maybe an injury? Is he one of those guys that can't take the pressure of a big market? Could it have been his role, as a set-up man, that was the primary factor?

Not looking for Gagne bashing just opinions.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Pretty sure it has a lot to do with steroids. Maybe he should come to Baltimore to feel more at home.

 

[Eephus]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

 

[DropKick]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

I suspect at least part of it is mental. Seemed he lost his composure at times after a man reached base or he felt he was squeezed on a call.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Pretty sure it has a lot to do with steroids. Maybe he should come to Baltimore to feel more at home.

bingo!& good riddance!

 

[PatsFan23]

Pretty much sure the Sox never expected him to accept and only offered so they'd get draft picks when he signs somewhere else...

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

Pretty sure it has a lot to do with steroids. Maybe he should come to Baltimore to feel more at home.

bingo!& good riddance!

Yep.Remember when he was a starter for the Dodgers (or tried to be)? He was thin, threw lower 90s and couldn't last. Next season, the guy comes back a moose and his fastball goes up 5 mph. Voila Monsieur Gagne!

 

[Bogart]

The Rangers are not pursuing him to come back to Arlington. They were going to offer him a one-year deal and he wants a two-year deal.

I'm sure they were just looking for the part-time help and then flip him for prospects mid-season.

 

[MrPhoenix]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

 

[Greco]

The Rangers are not pursuing him to come back to Arlington. They were going to offer him a one-year deal and he wants a two-year deal.I'm sure they were just looking for the part-time help and then flip him for prospects mid-season.

Yo, Bogart...your sim team is in the wildcard chase...fyi. Hope all is well.

 

[DropKick]

I'm sure they were just looking for the part-time help and then flip him for prospects mid-season.

Interesting... they could pull that one off twice.

 

[DropKick]

Looks like he could sign with the Brewers for $10 million per.

I guess I'll never understand baseball economics.

 

[uwgb96]

Looks like he could sign with the Brewers for $10 million per.I guess I'll never understand baseball economics.

$10 mil? Ugh, that's about 4-5 million too much, but the Brewers do have the luxury of having their stars in minimum salary deals for the time being. They can afford to overpay now, that is until they have to extend Prince, Braun, Weeks, Hardy, etc.I don't hate the move, but they had to do something with the pen, especially after losing Cordero. I didn't want to see them give a 4 year deal to Cordero, so I guess I'm alright with a 1 year deal for Gagne. Zero long term risk.They will then have added Gagne, Torres, Riske, and Mota to fill the void of losing Cordero and Linebrink.<edit> Looks like it is a done deal. 1yr - $10 million. Haven't seen the specifics, but I've got to guess that the full $10 mil is tied to incentives and if so, he will EARN the $10 mil and hopefully he does just that.

 

[DropKick]

Looks like he could sign with the Brewers for $10 million per.I guess I'll never understand baseball economics.

$10 mil? Ugh, that's about 4-5 million too much, but the Brewers do have the luxury of having their stars in minimum salary deals for the time being. They can afford to overpay now, that is until they have to extend Prince, Braun, Weeks, Hardy, etc.I don't hate the move, but they had to do something with the pen, especially after losing Cordero. I didn't want to see them give a 4 year deal to Cordero, so I guess I'm alright with a 1 year deal for Gagne. Zero long term risk.They will then have added Gagne, Torres, Riske, and Mota to fill the void of losing Cordero and Linebrink.<edit> Looks like it is a done deal. 1yr - $10 million. Haven't seen the specifics, but I've got to guess that the full $10 mil is tied to incentives and if so, he will EARN the $10 mil and hopefully he does just that.

I hope he succeeds... I really like Gagne and thought the deal was a good one (at the time) for Boston as Okajima was unproven and Papelbon got hurt late in the previous season. Being from Montreal, which apparently has a big Red Sox following, Gagne was excited to play for Boston in a pennant race. Too bad he couldn't have been a bigger contributor.

 

[MrPhoenix]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

 

[Bogart]

The Rangers are not pursuing him to come back to Arlington. They were going to offer him a one-year deal and he wants a two-year deal.I'm sure they were just looking for the part-time help and then flip him for prospects mid-season.

Yo, Bogart...your sim team is in the wildcard chase...fyi. Hope all is well.

Thanks again for taking that team over. Great job!!!!

 

[Bogart]

I'm sure they were just looking for the part-time help and then flip him for prospects mid-season.

Interesting... they could pull that one off twice.

I'm pretty sure that would have been their intention. This team is not looking to win next year at all (as can be seen by their moves (of lack there of) this offseason. They are looking to 2009-10, and Gagne would not be in their plans by then.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

He blew their season those last two games.

 

[Anarchy99]

Looks like it is a done deal. 1yr - $10 million. Haven't seen the specifics, but I've got to guess that the full $10 mil is tied to incentives and if so, he will EARN the $10 mil and hopefully he does just that.

He's getting $10 million with some incentives on top of that. Basically another $250K at 50, 55, 60, and 65 games finished for a total max of $11 million.

 

[MrPhoenix]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

He blew their season those last two games.

So, you're saying that, despite the fact that MLB games are 9 innings long and that there are 162 games in a season and that Hoffman's arm brought your organization a long way during the season, it's all Hoffman's fault?

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

He blew their season those last two games.

So, you're saying that, despite the fact that MLB games are 9 innings long and that there are 162 games in a season and that Hoffman's arm brought your organization a long way during the season, it's all Hoffman's fault?

No, I'm saying he blew their playoff chances.But you're right about the 9 innings in a game.

BTW, I don't own the Padres.

 

[MrPhoenix]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

He blew their season those last two games.

So, you're saying that, despite the fact that MLB games are 9 innings long and that there are 162 games in a season and that Hoffman's arm brought your organization a long way during the season, it's all Hoffman's fault?

No, I'm saying he blew their playoff chances.But you're right about the 9 innings in a game.

BTW, I don't own the Padres.

Bad choice of words. I hate when others do that, but there I go saying it myself. Meanwhile, I think there's more to games than 1 inning. Why couldn't the Pads generate enough cushion for Hoffman? That's just one of many things that determine the outcome of the game. I don't believe in throwing all the blame on one guy if a team loses, there are many other factors to consider.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He had elbow surgery a few years ago, followed by back and knee problems. I don't think he's ever gotten all his velocity back. If he can still throw his change, he can still be effective even without his grade A fastball.

Trevor Hoffman is a terrific example of this. Guy has lost about 2 K's/9 since arm surgery and he's still kicking ###.

I agree; he looked great donning those Brewers and Rockies unis at the end of last year.

Unless you're a bitter Padres fan, I don't get where you're coming from here.

He blew their season those last two games.

So, you're saying that, despite the fact that MLB games are 9 innings long and that there are 162 games in a season and that Hoffman's arm brought your organization a long way during the season, it's all Hoffman's fault?

No, I'm saying he blew their playoff chances.But you're right about the 9 innings in a game.

BTW, I don't own the Padres.

Bad choice of words. I hate when others do that, but there I go saying it myself. Meanwhile, I think there's more to games than 1 inning. Why couldn't the Pads generate enough cushion for Hoffman? That's just one of many things that determine the outcome of the game. I don't believe in throwing all the blame on one guy if a team loses, there are many other factors to consider.

Of course a few games don't make a season. However, my point was mainly to illustrate his effectiveness of late. It was mentioned that since he lost 5 MPH or whatever on his fastball, that he just learned how to pitch around that, so to speak. Maybe so, and I'm sure someone can throw out numbers that will help prove that to varying degrees, but I'm really not buying it. I've watched a lot of him and he is hittable now. He still gets saves and all, a lot of mediocre pitchers do, but he is far from the guy that intimidated the #### out of batters back in the day. Now, he just gets through it.Bottom line is, he is nowhere near what he once was, in my opinion. And I think that when it really counted, small sample be damned, that his weakness was glaring.