Eric Gagne

Here is a link worth bookmarking, sortable projections from four of the biggees 2009 Projections Batters.
You can customize them for your team Here

Chipper Jones is a little banged up again. If you have owned him at any time in the last three seasons, you are used to this.

Closers may be the most intriguing breed of baseball players. They are highly debated, analyzed, ridiculed, and speculated on. Their biggest contribution to a fantasy lineup (Saves), they have little control over. They warm up, get ready to pitch, and when their offense scores a run to put their team up 4, they sit down and go back to spitting seeds while a guy, possibly just as capable, making a fraction of what the closer makes, trots out for the 9th inning. If you tried to describe fully, the modern MLB closer to somebody who had never heard of the concept, they'd look at you like you were crazy.

Most teams have now played at least one game. Your Ace has been roughed up and your stud hitter went 0-5. Is it time to panic?!

Of course not! But here are a few early reflections on yesterday's games.

Apparently the major media forgot Eric Gagne holds an MLB record. That is why we have missed all that venom and disdain with regards to the Canadian.

Based upon the turnout at this here press conference, I am guessing the Eric Gagne story will be front page news for all of about three minutes.

I bet It will be a story of triumph, and how he overcame though. All three minutes of it.

Obviously losing Fransisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink left bullpen holes for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Doug Melvin has responded by committing roughly 30 million to four bullpen acquisitions ..

Eric Gagne, David Riske, Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota.

Of those, only Riske is under contract beyond 2008

source: Rosenthal

Doug Melvin didn't like signing Eric Gagne for $10 million, either. "It is a lot of money for a closer," Melvin, the Brewers' general manager, said Monday. "But we looked at it and said, '(Francisco) Cordero and (Scott) Linebrink, the two of them are getting $65 million. We're paying $23 million for Gagne and (David) Riske.'" That's one way of looking at it — especially when Gagne is under contract for one year and Riske for three while former Brewers Cordero and Linebrink each signed for four

"We knew there were no other choices," Melvin said. "We're able to carry the dollars right now. The one-year deal is what sold us."

Well so much for Turnbow Time.
Eric Gagne could really rebuild his career in Milwaukee. The deal is for a year, so it is low risk on both accounts.

source: Brewers Blog
I just talked with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin -- he's in Madison, attending the Wisconsin-Marquette basketball game -- and he confirmed he has a pending deal in place with free agent reliever Eric Gagne. "It's one of those things where you've got to wait a few days," said Melvin.
Audio: Eric Gagne press conference

I just ran across this list of Scott Boras 2008 free agents, and couldn't help but think that maybe Scott Boras himself will be buying an MLB team next winter. This commission checks alone could net him a small island. MLB is the next step up, right?

On second thought, why would he do that. He makes more than any of them, spending their money. the guy is that good.