Gagne signs minor league deal with Brewers ($1.5 million if he makes roster, up to $3 million more in additional incentives; see reply #34ish)

[craigharmann]

WOAH! Our bullpen has gone from a huge question mark over the winter to looking pretty solid. In Doug I wholeheartedly trust!

[Ennder]

Very good signing.

 

Gagne before his injury...

 

.934 OPS against, 6.98 ERA, 16 BB in 19 IP.

 

Gagne after his injury

 

.760 OPS against, 4.33 ERA, 6 BB in 27 IP.

 

The majority of his suckiness was just being hurt. The rest of it was giving up a few too many HR which can just be variance.

 

He had a .230 BA against and .280 OBP against after the injury, I'll take it on a minor league deal.

[twobrewers]

I do not remember the details but I do recall that once, maybe twice, Gagne did some really great things helping local charities, giving away tickets or something to that affect. I recall I thought it was really amazing since he would get booed before he even threw a pitch.

On the night Yovani returned from his ACL injury and Ryan Braun hit a walk off home run against the Pirates, Gagne bought and gave away 10,000 tickets to Brewer fans because he wanted the stadium to be full.

 

Most people forget already, but going into the Brewers last 10 games or so, everyone had left the team for dead. The interest and attendence was way down. Gagne bought the tickets, got everyone excited, created a playoff like atmosphere for Gallardo's return - and Braun's grand slam pushed the Brewers towards the final run.

 

I give Gagne a lot of credit with getting Milwaukee back on the Brewers bandwagon that last week of the season.

[JohnBriggs12]

I like this move too but it brings up more questions than it answers.

 

1. Are they re-thinking using Villanueva as a starter and if so who would he replace? Would they dare trade say a Dave Bush or move Suppan to the pen?

 

2. Is Riske healthy? It's kind of curious that after 3 days of camp suddenly they are in the market for another veteran reliever.

 

3. Does Melvin have a very attractive offer on the table for Villanueva? Have to believe a lot of teams would be interested in him if he were available.

 

4. Assuming Riske is healthy, are they looking to move him and his $9 million left on his contract? If Melvin is sniffing around for veteran bat with bigger contract, he'd want to send a similar contract back. Geoff Jenkins coming back? How about Catalanotto? Blalock? Or is there a bigger deal in the works involving multiple players?

 

Anyway, I'm glad they have Gagne back. I like him more than Julio for sure.

[sheetskout]

Gagne was decent down the stretch. I just hope he doesn't play during the home opener against the Cubs.....please no!

[mothershipconnection]

I can't stand Gagne but can't criticize this move one bit. He's a great scrap heap pickup, which I would have been happy with him being last year.

[Darnell Junior]

Another solid arm for essentially nothing. I have nothing bad to say about this pickup.

[gbpdc]

ESPN.com lists the incentive numbers.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com...009/news/story?id=3914137

[nate82]

This is a great pick up and gives the Brewers a lot of depth in the bullpen. Now Melvin only needs to add another starter like a Mulder or someone like that for some starting pitching depth and the Brewers should be set.

[DHonks]

Very good move for the Crew. He'd make a much better 7th inning reliever than Riske

[BrewCrewForever]

Being one of Gagne's biggest fans I have to say I'm pleased with this. Very low risk and very high reward. If he pitches in a setup role this year like he did last year could be a pleasant surprise. Our bullpen is shaping up to I think be better then last year. I was shocked when I heard the news, I didn't think I would ever see Eric in a Brewers uniform again. Hopefully he has a strong camp.

[razzzorsharp]

I hope the fans can remember that he is pitching on a $400,000 contract and not a $10,000,000 one. There is a sizeable difference between the two and our expectations should be adjusted accordingly.

[twobrewers]

The most amazing part of the story...

 

I think Gagne could have gotten this contract from almost any team in MLB. And he chose the Brewers.

 

That is pretty rare. I'll take a free pitcher for Spring Training.

[hawing]

Not that quantity is more important than quality, but at this time of year the more potential pieces to the puzzle the Brewers have, the better I feel. I'll stop short of welcoming our new Gagneian overlord, but I'm just fine with the signing.

 

(Like joepepsi, I'm sure Doug Melvin is heaving a sigh of relief now, having received the hawing stamp of approval.)

[Invader3K]

Call me crazy, but I was actually somewhat excited about this. Gagne seems like he is a good guy at heart, and he pitched well towards the end of the season. Plus it's nice to think that he maybe wanted to be here again, even after the fans gave him some crap (which may or may not have been deserved).

[Matt Breen]

I guess of all the things I'm happy about is that Eric Gagne could have - very easily - cashed in Milwaukee as a nightmare stop in his life and moved on. He was booed mercilessly and (obviously), did not have a good season. But to Gagne's credit, he came back to the Brewers and is willing to give it another shot. Perhaps we did make the best offer - don't know. But he easily could have gone to a club where he would have signed a low cost deal with no pressure and no bad history/memories. That he's coming back here is good - even if it's just hoping that a guy wants to do the club right.

 

If it doesn't work - such is life. At least we all tried.

[brewerfan82]

I love the signing! There should be a lot of good competition for the bullpen and some quality depth if needed.

 

Now go snag Edmonds and let the Spring Training battles begin!

[LaprilOne]

I think it's great Eric is getting a lot of love here, and I am right there with the majority.

 

Yet, gotta chuckle. What's the over under when the moniker "Gagme" gets resurrected?

 

Any way, welcome back to Eric and his asbestos underwear.

[greeg35]

Personally I like "Get up get up get out of here, Gagne!" Can't remember where I heard that one.

 

Good low risk/cost signing. It will be interesting to see how he fares. Seems like a decent guy. Wants to be in Milwaukee (so he must be decent). I was at his seat giveaway game, it was nice to see him get some positive fan feedback and it was a nice gesture.

[brewtank34]

We do have quite a few arms to choose from though even without a Cordero.

 

Hoffman, Villenueva, McClung, Riske, Julio, Coffey, Stetter, DeFelice, Dillard, Morlan, Swindle, Gagne. That's 12 guys for 7 spots.

 

It seems that there should be no excuse for our team to not have a top level bullpen next season. (It's also kinda fun to think about how we would have reacted to having this bullpen 5 years ago).

 

Here's my big question to all of you... Other than Stetter, who's going to be our other Lefty RP? From my accounts, Stetter seems like the only lefty that is going to make the roster, and if that's the case, I'm not as happy as I want to be right now. I love the Gagne signing as I love incentive laden contracts....but another righty? I would have rather have signed Shouse and had 2 lefties in the BP.

[PeaveyFury]

Other than Stetter, who's going to be our other Lefty RP?

 

Swindle is a lefty.

[brewtank34]

yah, but what's the likelihood of Swindle starting the year in the BP? With all those names, I'm doubtful of it.

[Tbadder]

I love when Gagne was honest enough to say he wasn't doing the job. I love that he tried different pitches when he was having all sorts of problems. I loved that he turned it around in the second half, and didn't complain about losing his job. I love this signing and I believe he's gonna stick.

[wildbobu]

I love this signing, very low risk. I am also on the bandwagon of people who think Gagne is a good guy and I think it really speaks to that, that he is coming back to Milwaukee. Besides the ticket giveaway I thought I remembered hearing that he had donated a ton of money to local charaties as part of promotions. Welcome back Eric

[in the navy]

I see him getting booed alot this year by all the bandwagon fans that booed him last year, aka turnbow '07. I like the signing though.