Empty the Bench

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: closer Eric Gagne will be spending some time on the DL. For those of you who took my advice and drafted Gagne, don’t get too pissy just yet. Gagne isn’t injured, the Rangers just felt he needed to get some more innings in before he’s ready to close games at the MLB level. He should still be considered the Rangers’ starting closer for 2007 once he returns to the active roster. According to a prominent and reliable Ranger blog, Gagne is expected to be activated April 13th.

The move means that Akinori Otsuka will be the closer for the time being. That makes Otsuka a very sneaky source of saves for the first few weeks of the season. The decision also indicates that he could be asked to close out games beyond the expected April 13th call up of Gagne. Last year, his third season in the MLB, Otsuka recorded 32 saves with an impressive 2.11 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. With the obvious health concerns that come along with Gagne and the uncertainty surrounding his ability to become a reliable closer again, Otsuka is a great player to stash on your bench even after Gagne resumes the ninth inning responsibilities.

It wasn’t too long ago that Gagne was a Sportscenter darling and considered the best closer in Major League Baseball. But after totaling 152 saves combined between the 2002-04 seasons, Gagne has only tallied 9 saves the last two seasons, both of which ended with serious injuries. Gagne gave up 4 runs and 5 hits in his inning against the Padres this Tuesday, so he was clearly not ready just yet, but there is still reason for hope that he will return to post decent save totals this season. Of course, he will never be the Gagne of 2002-04, but 30 saves is still not out of the question by any means.