Written by Greg Fertel
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30 July 2007
According to a hopefully reliable MVN source, the Yankees will be acquiring Texas setup man Eric Gagné in exchange for AA pitchers Jeff Marquez, Tyler Clippard, and a 3rd "C-Level" prospect (maybe Brett Gardner?). I'll update you when I find official confirmation, but as for now, one has to be happy that Ian Kennedy and Alan Horne are still Yankees.
Marquez and Clippard will be missed, but the Yankees have enough pitching depth to replace them, and they may never have gotten the chance to get spots in the rotation. A setup duo of Gagne and Chamberlain combined with Mo slamming the door should make a lot of 6-inning games for the major league club, and should be an intimidating force down the stretch.
Update 10:25 PM (Monday): As I commented below, neither Alan Horne or Jeff Marquez are listed as members of the Trenton Thunder if you search them on milb.com (they have no team name next to their name on the search page, before you clidk on the name), while Clippard, Karstens, etc are still listed on their correct teams. I'm hoping it's either a mistake or a promotion, but if they are both traded for Gagné, they'd better get something else back.
Update 2:57 PM (Tuesday): ESPN is now reporting that Gagné is going to Boston for starter Kason Gabbard, outfielder David Murphy, and 16 year-old outfielder Engel Beltre. It's a bummer that Gagné is going to the division rival, and they didn't give up any of their top pitchers, but still, it was a significant price for a 2 month rental. That is going to be one nasty bullpen in Boston with Papelbon, Okajima, Gagné and Delcarmen.
