Remember Eric Gagne? The guy who had perhaps the greatest season ever for a relief pitcher in 2003 - perhaps the greatest three year run ever from 2002-2004? No? The saves... the Ks... nothing? The goggles? Right, that guy.
Scott Boras and Eric Gagne signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee, plus an invitation to spring training.
Thud.
Gagne took $10m from the Brewers last year to give them 46 innings of a 5.44 era, so maybe he wanted to be charitable and give something back.
Oh well. You cant Bloomquist them every time.
The 33 year old Gagne is blocked from closing by the 41 year old Trevor Hoffman - with very little depth in the Milwaukee bullpen behind him, so he does have an opportunity to claim a prominent role in the bullpen and test the waters again next year.
The contract includes an opt-out if he doesn't make the 40-man roster by the end of spring training. I dont see what help that is - its not like failing to make the brewers 40 man roster is going to convince GMs around the league to pony up for him. I had hoped Boras would have been able to get a player opt-out like he did for Andruw Jones - I just dont see anything to like about this deal.
***Update 10:55 am***
Well, the deal looks a bit better than I had initially understood it. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Gagné will be given a chance to make the team as a set-up man. If the Brewers do not put the 33-year-old right-hander on the 40-man roster by March 25, he can be a free agent. If he makes the club, he'll have a $1.5 million base salary with another $3 million available in incentives.
