UPDATE, 12-9-07 at 12:31am: The AP agrees Gagne will get $10MM, plus another mil in incentives.
UPDATE, 12-8-07 at 8:51pm: Tom Haudricourt has heard the deal might be around $10MM for one year.
FROM 12-8-07 at 1:06pm:
According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, the Brewers are nearing an agreement with free agent Eric Gagne. It’ll probably be a one-year deal, which jives with what Doug Melvin has said. The move pushes newly acquired David Riske to the eighth inning, while Derrick Turnbow, Salomon Torres, and Guillermo Mota can split sixth and seventh inning duty.
As far as I can tell, Gagne earned $8.5MM in 2007 ($6MM base plus $2.5MM in performance bonuses guaranteed for waiving his no-trade rights). We’ll have to wait to see the terms, but my guess is that this turns out to be a shrewd signing by Melvin. Gagne will be in his comfort zone – National League, closer role.
