Boom, Bust, or Bobby Bonilla: Eric Gagne

"Boom, Bust, or Bobby Bonilla" takes a look at MLB's Free Agents and the teams who need them in 2008.

Someone got me a shirt from Los Angeles a few years back ... it had a caricature of Eric Gagne where the beard was made of real hair-like fiber. And the big letters on the shirt said "Game Over".

It used to be that Eric Gagne would come into a game with Guns 'N Roses blasting from the P.A. system, and "Game Over" would mean there was no way the opposing lineup was going to touch Gagne. Nowadays, "Game Over" means that if Gagne was coming into a ballgame, the game had to be already over for Gagne to get some work in, because in Boston he was a disaster.

The transition from lights out closer to mop-up bum was swift and severe, and everybody was blindsided by it. With the Texas Rangers in the first part of '07, Gagne rebounded from elbow injuries by posting a 2.16 ERA and 16 saves, with 29 strikeouts in 33 and 1/3 innings, and a WHIP of 1.05. So the Boston Red Sox, looking to make what was known as the best bullpen in baseball even better, traded Kason Gabbard and two other good prospects to the Rangers for Gagne. The Red Sox were so eager to get Gagne that they agreed to pay him the incentive clause in his contract for finishing a certain amount of games, even though Gagne would be an eighth inning guy for the Red Sox.

Then the bottom fell out. Gagne went from an important part of the Sox bullpen to a very pricey mop-up guy in a matter of weeks. Gagne's numbers for the Red Sox: a 6.75 ERA, a WHIP of 1.87, 26 hits given up in 18 and 2/3's innings, and nine walks. Yikes!

So was it a mere slump? Were Gagne's numbers in Boston the result of not being used to the role switch? Or was it perhaps something more serious? Did the pressure and atmosphere of playing in Boston cause Gagne to short circuit? And that's something that a large market team has to consider before they sign him. The teams rumored to be interested in Gagne include the Mets, Giants, Rangers, Cubs, and Orioles (and I myself will throw the Astros hat into the ring after their recent Brad Lidge trade). Would teams like the Mets and/or Cubs think twice before Gagne comes to their high pressure market and turns into the next Guillermo Mota? Or the next LaTroy Hawkins?

That's why a team like the Rangers or Orioles would be a more feasible landing spot. How funny would it be if the Rangers signed him again, and got some sucker GM to give up three more good prospects after Gagne settles into the easy atmosphere of Arlington and finds his groove again? But something tells me that the Rangers will decline to go down that road again.

The Giants are another interesting possibility, only because of the amount of players that have crossed the line in that rivalry recently, whether it be Jeff Kent, Jason Schmidt, Dave Roberts, or even Orel Hershiser. So Gagne becoming a Giant shouldn't surprise anybody, especially because they need a closer. But if San Francisco doesn't use Barry Bonds' money to put together a halfway decent team, then why get a closer who's never going to get into a game? So for my money, Gagne's next work address will be the nice, easy going, half-empty Oriole Park at Camden Yards (except when the Red Sox come to town, in which case I wouldn't put Gagne into the game.)

Arm Bash: Metsmerized via MLB Trade Rumors