Gagne is back

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Gagne is back

In the last 4 months of last season he was one of the top hitting 3rd baseman in the AL.

Well, don't expect it to last. He's wildly inconsistent.

[keRplunK]

Re: Gagne is back

Well, don't expect it to last. He's wildly inconsistent.

I think anyone lives in Seattle knows that by now. Infact, I would call him consistently inconsistent, he'll end up with numbers similar to last year.

[bkrich83]

Re: Gagne is back

Gagne won a Cy Young, had 100000 consecutive saves, and Beltre nearly won the MVP two seasons ago. As a fan who saw every single on their games, I saw both in the pinnacle of their careers. McCourt wasn't willing to dish out the money to Beltre unfortunately, as I think he would have been better served playing here rather than @ Seattle (unfavorable dimensions to hitters).

For Beltre, he peaked during his contract year in '04 and it doesn't help playing in a pitcher's park.

Dodgers stadium is a pitchers park also.

[bkrich83]

Re: Gagne is back

While personally I'd take Chavez it's very close. They both play gold glove defense, and Beltre is a little younger.

Chavez in 2006: 22 hrs , 72 rbis , .241 avg , .786 ops

Beltre in 2006: 25 hrs , 89 rbis , .268 avg , .793 ops

And Beltre plays in Safeco.

And, Beltre plays better defense also? Come on.

The Safeco excuse only goes so far. Hell even in SD, you don't get to use Petco as an excuse. When Seattle signed Beltre I doubt they had .268-25-89 and .255-19-87 type years on their minds. Not to mention the poor start he's off to this year.

[Coug00]

Re: Gagne is back

Are you really going to try to say Beltre is a better fielding and better overall 3rd baseman than Eric Chavez?

No, where did I imply he was better overall? I said he's better fielding the bunt down the line than Chavez. Beltre is one of the very best I've ever seen charge the line, bare hand the ball and throw in one motion. There he is better than Chavez, but Chavez is the better fielder overall.

I forgot to mention Beltre has much better range than Chavez as well. Chavez only has slightly above average range.

[SportsTop]

Re: Gagne is back

He looked a little shaky at first, but settled in quick and got comfortable. His appearance seems different -- did he change his hair color?

[Coug00]

Re: Gagne is back

And, Beltre plays better defense also? Come on.

The Safeco excuse only goes so far. Hell even in SD, you don't get to use Petco as an excuse. When Seattle signed Beltre I doubt they had .268-25-89 and .255-19-87 type years on their minds. Not to mention the poor start he's off to this year.

Agree they didn't have those numbers in mind, but I'm not sure many in baseball would be off to a hot start playing for Seattle. How are you supposed to be able to stay consistent having 7 off days in a season that's only 2 weeks old?

The good sign is that he's been hitting the ball very hard so far. And driving in runs (without Ichiro being on in front of him).