Gagne to the Yankees Spells Trouble

Although it hasn't been officially announced yet, the Yankees are very close to landing the Texas Rangers closer, Eric Gagne. The Yankees are one of the three teams chasing him right now with less than 24 hours remaining until the trade deadline; the others being the Mets and the Red Sox. However, Eric Gagne has a partial no-trade clause that blocks trades toward specific teams. The team that is blocked by this clause out of the three? The Boston Red Sox. This opens the door for the Yankees and Mets to duel it out throughout these last few hours to grab the all-star closer. Yankee fans can pretty much smell Gagne's odor at this point just like they smelt Abreu's odor last year.

The question then comes, is this a good move for the Yankees? Before we get into what Gagne can bring to the table for the Yankees, let's look at what the Yankees will possibly lose in the trade. The positive is that the Yankees have made it perfectly clear to Texas that there is no way they are parting with pitchers Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. Texas has moved down the line of prospects to ask for the next two guys, Ian Kennedy and Alan Horne. The Yankees are again hesitant to give up these guys as well. Horne has an ERA lower than 3 with the AA Trenton Thunder and Kennedy has recently been promoted to the AAA Scranton Yankees after posting a 5-1 record with a 2.59 ERA in AA Trenton. Kennedy is clearly the prize prospect that the Rangers are looking at and with Kennedy's ceiling higher than the ceiling of Yankee Stadium, it seems like the Yankees will give up too much.

To give a little background, Eric Gagne has been a dominant closer since his move to the spot with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002. His best season perhaps was 2003 when he recorded 55 saves with a 1.20 ERA; he won the NL Cy Young Award that year. In 2005, Gagne's career took a turn for the worst when he suffered a sprained ligament in his right elbow. He had to undergo Tommy John surgery once again which ended his season (His first Tommy John surgery was back in 1997 before he made it to the majors). When the problem seemed to be fixed, in spring training the following year, it was decided that he would undergo a second surgery in less than a year. He made his way back later that year only to once again get injured after just two games. This time it was his back when doctors stated that Gagne had two herniated discs. The Dodgers decided paying Gagne wasn't worth it just two years following a 2004 season where he saved 45 games posting a 2.19 ERA. Gagne's injuries did not hold back the Texas Rangers who signed the free agent in the 2007 off-season. They were partially right, although Gagne was injured again in 2007, he has come back with a 2.16 ERA and 16 saves so far.

This takes us to his possible arrival to the Yankees. If this trade takes place, what will become of Gagne and the Yankees bullpen? There is no question Gagne will have an immediate impact that will help the Yankees' struggling bullpen. Gagne will most likely be used as the setup man to Mariano Rivera for the rest of the season giving the Yankees a pretty much guarenteed scoreless 8th and 9th innings. This is huge for a team who is expected to make the playoffs every year.

Those are the positives. As far the future, this is exactly what the Yankees shouldn't be involved in... more drama and more uncertainity. Gagne has made it clear that he only wants to be a closer and anything else will not leave him satisfied. The current Yankee closer, Mariano Rivera, is in his last season of his contract. Although he is 37 years old, Rivera has done more for the Yankees than any other player in over 20 years. Of course, baseball is a business, and Rivera has not been as dominate as he has in the past. Furthermore, the Yankees weren't expected to resign him after the season anyway. Rivera's factor in this potential mess is only immediate. Who knows whether this could mean locker room drama for the next two months. Gagne will not be happy setting up for Rivera and the Yankees will most likely refuse to take Rivera out of the closer spot. Can tempers heat up in the locker room or even worse, the dugout? It's certainly a possibility. Rivera is known to speak his mind and if he senses tension between himself and Gagne, he will no doubt confront him. The Yankees' chances of making the postseason will become slimmer and the 2007 season will be one the worst of recent memory.

Success this year, is more important to the Yankees than it has been for the past few years. There can be many changes in the off-season this year including Alex Rodriguez's status, Rivera's contract up, Jorge Posada's contract up, and manager Joe Torre's contract up. Success can be a selling point for these guys to return to the team as well as a higher interest in the Yankees managerial job. Not that that job is unwanted, most managers would kill to manage the Yankees, but you can't deny it would be so much sweeter if the team was coming off of a championship.

As for Gagne himself, he will assume the closer's role for the long term starting in 2008. The Yankees will believe the postion to be filled and will not seek other players for that role. How is this bad? The question is more like, how is this good? With Gagne's injuries, he is as reliable as a Ford with more than 25,000 miles on it. If the Yankees put their confidence in Gagne for the next 5 or 6 years and Gagne goes down to injury, who will be the closer? There are no potential suiters for the job currently. The Yankees will be forced into making a desperate move to grab a closer via trade and probably trade some high quality prospects in the process. Worse, when Gagne comes back from the injury, what will happen then? No doubt Gagne will be the one to go and teams will be turned off by his injury history and give the Yankees peanuts for the former Cy Young winner.

If, if not when, Gagne is traded to the Yankees tomorrow, it will definitely raise the spirits of Yankee fans everywhere. The problem is, the future consequences will be far greater setting the Yankees back a few more years in their quest for 27. Gagne's arrival will spell trouble for the Yankees which is why Yankee fans everywhere should pray that the Mets push just alittle bit harder to grab the injury prone former Cy Young winner.

Sports Moment of the Week

Carlos Zambrano won his 14th game on Sunday taking the lead in wins in the majors. He has won 8 of the last 10 games he started and has turned his season around after the Cubs went 1-4 in his first 5 starts.

Trade DEAD-line

With the MLB Trade Deadline less than five days away, little buzz is being generated about potential deals that can affect the rest of the season. There are a number of reasons for this; one being, the contract extension of Mark Buehrle. Before the White Sox could work out this deal, Buehrle’s name was the most talked about because of his great season and the White Sox’ awful season. Everyone was sure he was going to be traded until the Sox decided to keep him. Another pitcher, Dontrelle Willis fell out of trade talks for the complete opposite reason. No one wants him due to his awful season, a 7-10 record with a 5.15 ERA. Another reason the deadline buzz is sluggish is because big market teams are playing well at the point of the deadline to where they don’t need to make big moves to be contenders for the postseason including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs. With all of these events taking place before the deadline, it seems like it will be a boring next few days. There are some intriguing talks none-the-less, involving a few players that can heighten the deadline buzz.


Mark Teixeira 1B

Here is the premiere player that can single handedly save the trade deadline headlines. The Texas Rangers have stated that they will trade Teixeira before the deadline. His .299 BA, 13 HR, and 49 RBI make him a highly pursued player among teams right now, but the catch is that he can opt out of his contract after the 2008 season meaning only teams that can win a championship now will pursue him.

Of the teams interested in Teixeira, the Atlanta Braves look like the most logical choice. They have a hole to fill in the first basemen slot which is currently filled in by young backup catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Teixeira will not only fill this hole but he will also help the Braves significantly decrease the gap between them and division leader, New York; this will also help the Braves pull away in the tight wild card race.

Another possibility is the Yankees, however that looks dead due to New York’s unwillingness to give up young prospects Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. Also, Andy Phillips has been filling in the role quite nicely as of late. Other possibilities that seem unlikely are the Red Sox who already have Kevin Youkilis, the Angels who already have Casey Kotchman, the Padres who already have Adrian Gonzalez, and the Dodgers who have stated they are comfortable with James Loney.

The Yankees and Red Sox Bullpen

Although both the Red Sox and Yankees are doing quite well right now with no huge holes to fill in their roster, they are both looking for relief pitching that can help them out, especially with their older starting pitchers. The bullpen proved to be an important role in last year’s postseason race when the Yankees swept the Sox 5-0 in the battle of the bullpens. The Yankees’ bullpen is worse than the Red Sox’ this season, however the Sox don’t want to give the Yankees the oppurtunity to grab a big name reliever to use against them when the season comes to a close.
A few possible names that are being tossed around are Texas’ Eric Gagne, Kansas City’s Octavio Dotel, Washington’s Chad Cordero, Cincinnati’s David Weathers, Pittsburgh’s Salomon Torres, Pittsburgh’s Damaso Marte, Colorado’s Brian Fuentes, Houston’s Brad Lidge, Houston’s Chad Qualls, and Houston’s Dan Wheeler.

The other factor that plays a role in the Yankees’ and Red Sox’ pursuit of a better bullpen is that they both have guys in the farm that can come out and help them in August and September, so they do not need to go out of their way to make a deal. The Yankees are very high on Joba Chamberlain and they also have Ross Ohlendorf who looks great when he’s healthy.

The Red Sox farm is equally as good as they have brought up Manny Delcarmen and he has looked very promising this season. Clay Buchholz may also join Manny in the bullpen later on this season. The big question with the Sox is which starter will be axed once Curt Schilling comes back? Longtime Red Sox pitcher, Tim Wakefield has not been great this season, so he might be a possibility. Both Kason Gabbard and Jon Lester have come up from the minors and have been great. It will be interesting to see how Boston handles this situation.

Eric Gagne RP

As mentioned above, Gagne is being pursued as he is having a great season with 16 saves and a 2.16 ERA. However, the Yankees and Red Sox aren’t the only teams looking at Gagne. In fact, the list of interested teams is quite long including the Tigers, Braves, Dodgers, Rockies, and Indians.

The only catch to pursuing Gagne is that Gagne has a no-trade clause and has stated that he wants to be a closer not a setup man, which rules out a lot of teams that want to use him as a setup man.

Jose Contreras SP

Despite his horrible performance this season, 5-13 with a 6.22 ERA, teams around the league are willing to take a chance on Contreras hoping to bring him back to his dominant form of the first half of last season. The good thing about this is that Contreras’ price will be low making it easier to grab him for next to nothing. Interested teams include the Cubs, Braves, Mariners, Marlins, Indians, Phillies, and Mets.

Phillies Pitching & Pat Burrell OF

The Phillies’ problems are as clear as a sunny day. Their offense is ranked third in the majors with runs scored and OPS. Their team pitching however, is ranked 27th in the majors in ERA. Their starting pitching besides Cole Hamels is awful and their bullpen is nothing to brag about either. If the Phillies don’t get help as far as pitching is concerned in the next four days, you can count them out of the playoffs.

The good news is that the Phillies have a huge trading token in Pat Burrell who is having an off year. Since the Phillies don’t need help from Burrell, and Burrell has shown some great stuff in the past, they can trade him for some quality pitching. Possible players include Oakland’s Joe Kennedy, Chicago’s Jose Contreras, San Fransisco’s Matt Morris, Florida’s Dontrelle Willis, Cincinnati’s Kyle Lohse, and Houston’s Jason Jennings.

Seattle Pitching

The Mariners are another team that has major pitching issues. Although lately the Mariners have been losing, they had made a nice run to stay 3.5 games back from the division leading Angels. If they want to make another run, they need help in their pitching rotation. Any of the pitchers mentioned above can be likely options for Seattle.

Padres Hitting

The Padres have the opposite problem. The Padres pitching is one of, if not the best pitching staff in the league. The problem is that they have little to no offense. The Padres are ranked 28th in the majors in runs scored and 27th in the majors in OPS. They did acquire outfielder Milton Bradley recently but he will not be enough. The Padres look to be seriously considering Tampa Bay’s Ty Wigginton, Chicago’s Jermaine Dye, and Cincinnati’s Adam Dunn.


This season’s trade deadline seems to be taking a backseat in the headlines. The dark ages for commissioners have something to do with that but even without that, there’s not enough on the table to be seriously excited over. It is very likely that any of the deadline deals done will have little impact on the postseason race. As everyone counts on the Texas Rangers to save the day by trading Mark Teixeira, we all sit and wait for a potential blockbuster deal. Will it happen? Probably not. But where there are storm clouds, the sunshine awaits above in the off-season.

References: Baseball-Reference.com

Sports Moment of the Week

The Yankees defeated the Devil Rays 3-1 over the weekend scoring a combined 38 runs on them. This is the 2nd most in franchise history.

We’re Halfway There

Since my preseason picks, I haven’t talked much about baseball besides the Yankees’ unexpected struggles. Since we’re halfway through the baseball season and there’s no way to milk another article on the NBA, I’ll analyze what’s going on with select teams and what will happen with the rest of the season, including updated award predictions and World Series predictions.

Boston Red Sox (Runs Scored: 8th, ERA: 3rd, Errors Committed: 11th)

It goes without saying that the Sox are playing extremely well. Both Kevin Youkilis (.328 BA) and Dustin Pedroia (.318 BA) have stepped up big time to be key pieces in the Red Sox’ success. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are doing fine as well. Julio Lugo (.197 BA) has been the anchor that keeps the Sox from pulling full speed ahead but it isn’t enough to keep the team down. Pitchers Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield have also been struggling, but their efforts have been balanced out by the great performances of Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Schilling has been on the DL as well as future-star Jon Lester, and their return should help out a lot. What I like most about this Sox team is the fact that their bullpen has dramatically improved. Their bullpen was awful last year which is one of the main reasons they went through a second half slump last season causing them to ultimately finish 3rd in the division. This year, Hideki Okajima, Brendan Donnelly, and Javier Lopez have allowed the Sox to close out games. Jonathon Papelbon’s continued success is also a giant factor. The big question still remains, will the second half slump occur again this season? Signs of it already exist as they were swept by the Tigers right before the break. The Sox will probably cool off, but it won’t be enough for them to fall out of the division lead.

New York Yankees (Runs Scored: 3rd, ERA: 15th, Errors Committed: 7th)

Despite failing to achieve their goals in the first half of the season, the Yankees are far from finished for the simple fact that they are 3rd in the league in runs scored and 15th in the league with lowest ERA (Cleveland ranks worse). No one should ever count the Yankees out of the competition until they are deep into the second half of the season. Still, the Yanks have a lot of work ahead of them. Certain players need to play well now. Clemens is already back in the groove winning his 350th game two starts ago and going 8 innings with one earned run his next start. Andy Pettitte has had a recent history of playing much better in the second half along with Bobby Abreu. Alex Rodriguez is looking at his second MVP award with the Yankees, and Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are playing excellent as well. Chien-Ming Wang has been excellent as well continuing his success as the ace of the Yankees pitching staff. Look for the Yanks to grab some bullpen help before the deadline which seems to be their biggest weakness.

Detroit Tigers (Runs Scored: 1st, ERA: 13th, Errors Committed: 18th)

The Tigers are in a tight race with the Indians at this point but are performing very well under the circumstances. They’ve won six of their last seven and look like the best team in baseball right now. Last year, one of the key pieces they were missing was the power hitter in the lineup. In the off-season they grabbed Gary Sheffield who seems to be performing to his expectations with 21 homeruns and 58 RBI. Although the pitching hasn’t been the best, Kenny Rogers is back and his addition should help out a lot. Their biggest weakness is their bullpen so it will be interesting to see if they wait it out and rely on their injured guys to get better or grab help before the trade deadline.

Cleveland Indians (Runs Scored: 2nd, ERA: 17th, Errors Committed: 15th)

The Indians are 1-2 in batting with the Tigers. The bad news is that the Tigers are in their division. Contrary to popular belief, there is no guarantee that the wild card team comes from the Central Division which puts pressure on the team to do well. Look for the struggling Travis Hafner to heat up in the second half as he has had a batting average of over .300 the past three seasons. C.C. Sabathia has become one of the elite pitchers in the league and Fausto Carmona has been a great young guy. After those guys, the pitching isn’t very good however. One of the bigger disappointments is Jeremy Sowers, who is going through a bad sophomore slump with an ERA of 6.92. A lot will depend on him if the Indians want to make the playoffs.

Minnesota Twins (Runs Scored: 7th, ERA: 11th, Errors Committed: 2nd)

The Twins' pitching has been mediocre but that can change. Matt Garza recently came back from the minors to pitch an excellent first game (6 IP, 0 ER). If he can keep that up, this will be a big boost to the Twins who don’t have too many reliable pitchers after Johan Santana. Boof Bonser has looked great at times this season and should do a lot better in the second half. Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter lead the offense but it won’t be enough to compete in the Central Division while they are 8 games back right now. I don’t see them catching the Tigers and Indians.

Los Angeles Angels (Runs Scored: 6th, ERA: 8th, Errors Committed: 16th)

The Angels starting pitching is pretty good. They have three solid guys in John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver. Their bullpen is even better; one of the strongest in the league. Coupled with a powerful offense led by Vladimir Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, Casey Kotchman, Reggie Willits, and Chone Figgins, this team is a lock for the playoffs.

Oakland A's (Runs Scored: 23rd, ERA: 2nd, Errors Committed: 12th)

With the A’s, the question since the preseason was whether anyone on the offense can step up. The pitching was not really a question and the A’s proved it by having the second lowest team ERA in the bigs. The problem is the offense is horrible and the Angels are too strong. It’s safe to say at this point, the A’s won’t be seeing any October action.


New York Mets (Runs Scored: 21st, ERA: 5th, Errors Committed: 5th)

Moving onto the National League, the Mets pitching has surprised everyone ranking fifth in the league. One has to question how good this really is however. Oliver Perez has a surprising 3.14 ERA when in the last three season he’s posted an ERA over six. Whether he will continue his success in the second half of the season is very questionable. Another question is the eventual return of Pedro Martinez; will he be back in time to help the Mets out and if he is, will he be effective enough? Another surprising stat about the Mets is that they are 21st in the league in runs scored. You have to believe that that will get a lot better in the second half of the season when last season with pretty much the same offense, the team was ranked seventh. The Mets will win the NL East.

Atlanta Braves (Runs Scored: 15th, ERA: 12th, Errors Committed: 23rd)

The Braves look like a promising team. While the defense needs work, the pitching and the offense are pretty good; the bullpen is even better. If the defense steps up, look for the Braves to grab the wild card.

Philadelphia Phillies (Runs Scored: 4th, ERA: 28th, Errors Committed: 13th)

With the Phillies, it’s very simple, the pitching is terrible. Besides Cole Hamels, the Phillies have noone, both as a starter or reliever. Of course it doesn’t help that a number of relievers are injured but even with their return, the pitching staff doesn’t look that much better. What has kept them at .500 is that their offense is really good. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Aaron Rowand have been nothing less than great. If the Phillies want to contend, they need to invest in pitching before the break or grab some help from the minors.

Milwaukee Brewers (Runs Scored: 9th, ERA: 10th, Errors Committed: 22nd)

The Brewers are a great team when it comes to pitching and offense. They have a lot of great young guys who are performing up to their expectations. The problem is the team is too young which means they are very capable of collapsing in the second half of the season due to the pressure and lack of experience on how to deal with it. The disadvantage of their age is already showing with their defense which is not so great. While they will dominate the NL for years to come, I don’t see them closing out the deal this year.

Chicago Cubs (Runs Scored: 20th, ERA: 7th, Errors Committed: 9th)

Look for the Cubs to have a huge second half and take the lead in the Central Division. They have solid pitching with Carlos Zambrano looking great once again and Ted Lilly proving he was a good investment after all. The bullpen is pretty decent as well. What the Cubs need to do is to get the bats going, and look for it to happen. Alfonso Soriano is on pace to hit 66 RBI when in the past five seasons, he’s hit over 90. Derrek Lee should also catch fire as he is on pace to hit 84 RBI when the season prior to his injury, he hit 107 RBI.

Houston Astros (Runs Scored: 18th, ERA: 23rd, Errors Committed: 14th)

The Astros have been one of the bigger disappointments. Their batting has been pretty solid for the most part with the emergence of Hunter Pence and the continued success of Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta. Lance Berkman, batting .263 when he was supposed to be in the race for MVP, has been one of the big factors for the team underachieving. But the biggest problem is that a team once known for its pitching has taken a step in the opposite direction. Woody Williams, who had an ERA of 3.65 last year, is pitching 5.34 this season and Chris Sampson has not been helping either with his first year as a full time starter. To make it even worse, the bullpen for the Astros has been awful, one of the worst in the majors. Even though I had this team representing the NL in the World Series in the beginning of the year, I can safely say, this team has little chance of competing in the second half.

San Diego Padres (Runs Scored: 24th, ERA: 1st, Errors Committed: 8th)

The Padres have the best pitching in the league with Jake Peavy and Chris Young leading their starters. Their bullpen is also the best in the league which helps out other starters who might struggle early on. Why are they not running away with the best record in the league? Their offensive is terrible. How terrible? No starter from the beginning of the season has a batting average over .300. Adrian Gonzalez will heat up in the second half but he will need help. I don’t think Milton Bradley’s addition is the solution to this problem; it helps, but it’s not enough. They have to grab someone else before the deadline to help them out on offense if they want to seriously contend for the championship because they won’t get to smell it with the lineup they have right now.

Los Angeles Dodgers (Runs Scored: 19th, ERA: 4th, Errors Committed: 28th)

The Dodgers have the worst defense out of all of the contenders with 68 errors committed. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the starting pitching is very good and their bullpen is even better; one of the best in the majors along with the Angels. Their offense is pretty decent, at least better than the Padres’ which should work to their advantage in the two-team battle for the NL West. It should be fun watching these two teams duking it out for the division title.

My updated predictions with the season half over are as follows:

World Series: Detroit Tigers over Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana
AL ROY: Daisuke Matsuzaka

NL MVP: Derrek Lee
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
NL ROY: Hunter Pence

References: Baseball-Reference.com

Sports Moment of the Week

Roger Federer got his revenage against Rafael Nadal on the grass winning his fifth straight Wimbledon title last week. Last month, Nadal defeated Federer on the clay at the French Open.