Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Do You Believe in Second Chances?

Dodgers history is filled with fish that got away, from Roberto Clemente to Carlos Santana. Pedro Martinez. Mike Piazza. Paul Konerko. Shane Victorino. Okay, I'll stop now. But my point is that once they get away, rarely do we get them back. (Or, as with Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, we get them too late.)

So it is with great interest that I'm following Eric Gagne's progress this spring training. Gagne's admitted HGH use makes his return more than just a nice reunion with his original team. It is (in John Facenda voice) a shot at redemption.

Ned Colletti saw enough in Gagne's arm to pay him $500,000 if he makes the team, with another $500,000 possible in incentives. Should he be chosen, it won't be a sentimental inclusion — Gagne will have to earn his spot.

Right now, the chances of Gagne appearing at Dodger Stadium again don't seem great — he's competing against a boatload of other washed-up pitchers. But the soft, squishy part of me is rooting for him to make it so he can at least partially atone for his misdeeds. The hard, cynical part of me thinks he should receive his just desserts for cheating, and he's already earned a great deal of money, so he doesn't deserve a second chance. And the itchy, annoying part of me is saying, We need to see a doctor about this rash!

Way to take a stand, Orel. I know bloggers are supposed to express outrage! and be controversial! but I just can't tap my inner Plaschke to fully come down against Gagne. It helps that Gagne has been contrite about his HGH usage and hasn't pulled a Paulie on us. What do you think?

Are you pulling for Eric Gagne to make the Dodgers this year?
Yes! Game Over all over again!
No! I'm not here to talk about the past!
  
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photo by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

3 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

I believe in second chances, but I voted No because I would be very worried if he ends up being our 6th or 7th best bullpen option coming out of camp

Wesley Vento said...

Where does he fit? If they carry 13 pitchers:

Starters
1. Kershaw
2. Billingsley
3. Kuroda
4. Padilla
5. 5th Starter (certainly not Gagne)
Relief
6. Broxton (RHP)
7. Sherrill (LHP)
8. Kuo (LHP)
9. Bellisario (RHP)
10. Troncoso (RHP)
11. Weaver (RHP swingman/spot starter - should make it over Gagne in this capacity)
12. McDonald (RHP good out of the pen, not a SP IMHO)
13. Lefty? Elbert? It should be a lefty anyways.

Thoughts? I'd also rather see Cory Wade on the big league club before Gagne. Nostalgia is great and all, but when it comes to the here and now, I'm more interested in skill, effectiveness, and propensity for injury.

Wesley Vento said...

*or lack thereof a propensity for injury