Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Stroup
At least until Huston Street came along, Billy Beane made a killing using the closer position as an ATM machine. There's almost nothing easier than making an ok (and cheap) pitcher look like a fantastic (and expensive closer). Pump up a cheap pitcher and sell him the next season. Instant profit. Isringhausen, Koch, whoever was before Isringhausen.
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Perhaps, but Gagne was a little different. He wasn't an ok starting pitcher, he was a worthless starting pitcher. He's the rare pitcher that is pure closer. If he's doing anything other than trying to get the last 3 outs of the game, he's awful (I used to cringe every time he was brought in with the game tied. He lost nearly every one). But as a closer he's pure brilliance.
When he's not injured. And that's really it. Had he not been so obviously falling apart at the seems, the Dodgers would have kept him, no doubt. Healthy, he's worth any price. He gets people to the games, he sells merchandise, and he's as close to a guarantee of winning as can possibly exist in baseball.
But he can only do that by throwing harder than his body can handle.