MIL signs Eric Gagne (1y/10M, +1M in incentives)

[mrwisconsin]

Jsonline is reporting that the Brewers have signed Eric Gange.

 

EDIT: Icon. -PF

[PeaveyFury]

From Melvin himself, so I'd say this is official enough:

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/12/08/melvin-confirms-pending-gagne-deal.aspx

[mrwisconsin]

wow $10 million seems like alot of money?

[DuWayne Steurer]

That's a lot of money for a pretty big question mark. I see what the "plan" is with the bullpen, but I question putting together a bullpen based on mostly guys that were good 2 years ago, 3 years ago, but didn't do so hot last year.

 

Also, if this deal completely ends any talk of Rolen (or another high priced vet) being brought in, I don't like it. As Toby and Peavey pointed out in the rumors thread, this puts the payroll at or above 75 million or so. So with that, we're looking at a Gross/Dillon platoon, which excites me not at all.

[splitterpfj]

There's no way the team is done, the desire to move Braun to the outfield could not be more obvious, and we have twice as many pitchers as we need.

[PeaveyFury]

They're certainly going to make another move or two- they simply have way too many pitchers, and they have a massive hole at either 3rd, LF, or CF (depending on Hall and Braun, obviously).

 

As I said elsewhere, I think this just takes focus from a guy like Rolen and puts it more on someone like Teahen or Ethier.

 

EDIT: Also, the 10 million part is still a rumor- we don't know if that includes incentives/options/buyouts/etc.

[jackalope02ca]

This is why you never doubt Doug. We weren't getting anything remotely close to a closer in today's market for less and only have one year tied up in him. Just enough time for a World Series appearance and a couple of compensatory draft picks for us next year when he signs a Cordero like contract.

[splitterpfj]

If the Dodgers still have interest in Hall, and if that interest is for third base, I could see the Brewers pursuing both Ethier and LaRoche, which would be fine with me.

[burnzy24]

Lets hope that if the contract is for almost $10 million contract it is because of performance clauses like the ones in Riske's contract. Otherwise that is a lot of money to give a guy who didn't play all that well for Boston.

[PeaveyFury]

If the Dodgers still have interest in Hall, and if that interest is for third base, I could see the Brewers pursuing both Ethier and LaRoche, which would be fine with me.

 

Hall and one of our odd men out on the staff (Vargas?) for Ethier and LaRoche would seem to be the ideal move to set the Brewers up for 2008 at his point.

[gregmag]

$10 million, if it includes "successful closer" type incentives, is just fine on a one-year deal for a player with his upside. I agree there's a downside if it costs us a real shot at Rolen, but presumably the Brewers factored the likelihood of such a deal into their decision. Maybe they really didn't like Rolen's medical profile. Anyway, as much as I like the Rolen idea, I'd prefer to go after younger position players (like the oft-mentioned Dodgers) if we can get them without cutting into our core.

 

Also, does the $75 mil figure that RoCo mentioned factor in the non-tendering of Mench? Knock out his salary, maybe dump Mota (if that's possible or desirable; I'm just thinking out loud), and suddenly you have some money to work with.

 

Greg.

[wisconsinfan47]

wow $10 million seems like alot of money?

Consider that CoCo just signed for 46 million over 4 years.

I will gladly take 10 mil for this guy. Our bullpen has so much potential to absolutely kill.

 

[sbrylski]

I'm iffy on this. The 1-year is obviously great, but $10 million is a lot. Couldn't the risk and likely production be found elsewhere, and cheaper? Assuming Torres reports, I'd say it was likely one of our late inning guys would provide the same production Gagne could.

 

We just added $3-7M for Riske, $3M for both Mota and Torres, and $10M for Gagne. That's ~$20M for a bag of question marks, a lot of money. Could parallel's be drawn to the Orioles last offseason? They went from 2nd to last in bullpen ERA...to 2nd to last in bullpen ERA. $20M, and 25% of our payroll, is being spent on the most hit-and-miss type players in the MLB. Every season it is proven that a good bullpen can be built inexpensively and closers and setup guys can be made. We had a number of candidates before Torres and Gagne, who now are unlikely to get any coffee.

 

It's wonderful that this is a short term setup, but it could definitely effect 2009 payroll, a Sheets extention, a Hardy lockup, ect. - even other things this season such as Scott Rolen.

 

Building a bullpen is going to be a risk either way - through excessive spending or through the collection of "no-namers". Having the bigger names sure makes you feel better in your gut, but I'm just not sure its the right risk to take.

[PeaveyFury]

Greg-

 

The 75 million doesn't include mench, and doesn't include exact figures for riske (incentives) or kendall, I suppose as well.

[PeaveyFury]

It's wonderful that this is a short term setup, but it could definitely effect 2009 payroll, a Sheets extention, a Hardy lockup, ect

 

I'd say it's unlikely to have an effect on those things BECAUSE it's a short-term set up. If you need the money for Sheets or Hardy, you don't re-sign Torres or Mota, etc.

 

But it would likely effect Rolen-type acquisitions.

[jjfanec]

Riske probably wont be getting the 7 million end of his contract with this signing since those incentives were dependent on him closing from what I read. So he will likely be more toward the 3 million end.

[hp2444]

This may be an obvious question, but does this mean Gagne is now the closer? At least he must be the front runner.

[theavrock]

There is no perfect road to go. DM knew that he had to assemble a good bullpen. They have the bats and some good starters but as we all now the bullpen from being overworked coupled with a lack of talent was bad and coupled with atrocious defense was our downfall. DM is assembling a bullpen full of guys who have experience and success. You will never be able to build a bullpen with top, cheap, relievers. No one is giving them up. This is the next best thing. Its not like he is getting a bunch of scrubs. We upgraded our catching and bullpen. The last thing he needs to is fix the LF/3b situation. In my opinion DM has a good start on an outstanding offseason.

[mothershipconnection]

This may be an obvious question, but does this mean Gagne is now the closer? At least he must be the front runner.

 

Yes, there's no chance anyone else starts the season as closer if Gagne is healthy. $10MM is closer money (may not matter to us, but in practice it really seems to), he almost certainly signed with the promise of closing, and he has the best history in the closer role of anyone we've got.

[gregmag]

Excellent post, sbrylski06. I have several reasons for feeling better about this signing than you do, despite the underlying wisdom of what you're saying.

 

First, while good bullpens definitely can be built on the cheap, established relievers (not "established closers," but guys who can just pitch) reduce risk.

 

Second, the Brewers are at a point where overpaying to reduce risk, at least to some extent, represents a good investment.

 

Third, the Brewers are in exceptionally good shape at most other positions, and their bullpen situation is very unsettled, so they have better cause than most contenders to focus marginal resources on the bullpen. (Again, however, the BP frenzy could end up imposing big opportunity costs if it blocks us from a good deal for someone who could help a lot, such as (arguably) Rolen.)

 

Fourth, I like the particular bullpen risks (Riskes?) the Brewers have decided to take. Riske himself is actually about as safe a bet to give you quality innings as his contract could buy. Torres and especially Gagne have realistic chances to pitch very, very well. Mota I'm less sure about.

 

Fifth, they seem to be hedging their bets intelligently. They're only on the hook with Riske for three years, not four, and what they'll pay him seems reasonable in either a setup or closer scenario. Gagne is a one-year rental. Torres has a team option with a cheap buyout after this year, and the dollars for him and even Mota could end up looking like bargains. Moving whichever guys they decide they don't want shouldn't be hard.

 

So I'm with you philosophically, but for now, given present circumstances, I like what we're doing fine.

 

Greg.

[Cracked Bat Collector]

I like the move, less money than Coco per year and it's only a 1 year deal in case he'd not do well. Less of a commitment than if we had signed Coco. Now all I want for Christmas is Andre Ethier in a Brewers uniform

[JJHardy7]

$10 million/year is too much, but for one year it doesn't bother me. I'm guessing there are some type of incentives that make up the rumored money. It's not Melvin's habit to gurantee this much money. I think it's a good - great signing (since it's one year and likely has incentives) for the Brewers. I don't think the need to move Braun out of 3B has been so "obvious" from the Brewers end. I think they'll see as a whole which position (LF/3B) they can increase for the best value. I get more and more of a feeling that Braun will be the 3B to start the year.

 

There should be more moves made since we all know we have too many pitchers. It should be interesting, but I don't think we can emphasize enough the impact of signing Gagne...it cost us nothing via trade and now we can look to see who is the highest bidder for our pitchers. To me, that is huge -- whether it nets us a 3B, OF, etc...we're now in a great position to sell.

[Brian the Automator]

I'm iffy on this. The 1-year is obviously great, but $10 million is a lot. Couldn't the risk and likely production be found elsewhere, and cheaper? Assuming Torres reports, I'd say it was likely one of our late inning guys would provide the same production Gagne could.

 

We just added $3-7M for Riske, $3M for both Mota and Torres, and $10M for Gagne. That's ~$20M for a bag of question marks, a lot of money. Could parallel's be drawn to the Orioles last offseason? They went from 2nd to last in bullpen ERA...to 2nd to last in bullpen ERA. $20M, and 25% of our payroll, is being spent on the most hit-and-miss type players in the MLB. Every season it is proven that a good bullpen can be built inexpensively and closers and setup guys can be made. We had a number of candidates before Torres and Gagne, who now are unlikely to get any coffee.

 

It's wonderful that this is a short term setup, but it could definitely effect 2009 payroll, a Sheets extention, a Hardy lockup, ect. - even other things this season such as Scott Rolen.

 

Building a bullpen is going to be a risk either way - through excessive spending or through the collection of "no-namers". Having the bigger names sure makes you feel better in your gut, but I'm just not sure its the right risk to take.

Sure, it's 25% of the payroll... but awkward situations like that happen when you're fortunate to have such a young offense. It's a bag of question marks, but it's reasonable believe at least a couple of them will return to form.

I'm sure we'll see some stuff shake out as we get closer to S/T regarding the payroll (non-tendering Mench, maybe dealing Sheets & Hall).

 

And sure, bullpens CAN be assembled with smoke and mirrors, but can a small-market team with such a seemingly narrow window of opportunity afford to not take action? Last year we took a chance on the Spurlings, the Ray Kings, The Elmer Dessens's, and the Greg Aquino's of the world. I applaud Mark A for opening up the checkbook and trying to address a weakness that can be addressed simply by adding players.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

$10M is a lot but that's what it takes to get an established closer. I think it will work out ok. The BF.net salary page lists the team payroll at $49.5M, not including arby eligible players. If the Brewers kept all the arby players, I would guess it would cost them an additional $21M. Add in $10M for Gagne and the payroll is over $80M. However, the Brewers have a lot of options yet and we are far from a set roster. Like previously said, Mench will be non-tendered and a SP or two will be traded for a position player. They could easily shed $10M before the season starts. I have not heard a target budget yet, but $70M seems like a reasonable number. I do think DM is going to regret the Mota trade though. He has quickly become our 6th or 7th best reliever. Exchanging him for McClung or Wise would not hurt us much.

[Fatter than Joey]

But it would likely effect Rolen-type acquisitions.

 

Right -- That was why I thought we should just non-tender Estrada. The other problem I have is that if Mota/Torres really struggle they aren't gong to get DFA'd like a McClung/Choate are.

 

That's ~$20M for a bag of question marks, a lot of money.

 

Yep. I tend to like Riske/Gagne. Torres/Mota not so much -- I'd rather hang onto Cappy and Vargas who could start.