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July 31, 2007
It's official. The Red Sox have landed Eric Gagne from the Texas Rangers in exchange for three players -- Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and minor league prospect Engel Beltre.
``We're excited,'' said GM Theo Epstein in announcing the deal. ``We felt like we had a pretty good club and we were looking to improve it. This helps to give us what we think is a truly dominant bullpen.''
Gagne is set to join the Sox tomorrow afternoon. He was 2-0 with 16 saves in 17 chances with Texas in 34 games this season. Opponents were hitting just .192 against him this season and he was scored upon in just five of his 34 games.
Gagne had a limited no-trade and the Sox needed to offer him something to waive it. His contract included a $6 million base ($2 million remaining for the final two months) and incentives for games finished. Obviously, with Jonathan Papelbon here, Gagne will work primarily in a set-up capacity.
The Sox had to add Beltre to get the deal done. The Yankees, Mets and Cubs were all in pursuit of Gagne and the Sox needed to sweeten their offer. Beltre was a high-level international free agent signed last July out of the Dominican Republic.
Murphy, of course, is a former No. 1 pick out of Baylor whose career with the Sox seemed to stall the last two seasons as he fell behind both Brandon Moss and Jacoby Ellsbury on the Sox' outfield depth start. He'll be returning to his native Texas now.
Gabbard upped his value in recent weeks, going 4-0 in seven starts for the Sox this season. There is no word on who will take his scheduled start tomorrow night.
Posted by Sean McAdam 
at 5:11 PM | Permalink
REBEL | July 31, 2007 6:53 PM link
YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING GOOD TO GET SOMETHING GOOD! THEO DID A GOOD JOB! WHO SHOULD START IN GABBARD'S SLOT? WAKES? HE CAN GO ON SHORTENED REST. OR, CALL UP THE KID FROM PAWTUCKET FOR A CUP OF COFFEE?