He's back!

Eric Gagne signed a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league spring training today. Again, I hope this works out, but I have absolutely no expectation that it will--after all, he pretty much got lit-up in the Canadian league last year.

If it doesn't work out, maybe he can become pitching coach, or at least bullpen coach. Rick Honeycutt never really seems to add anything or actually help turn around pitchers when they're struggling in-game; he's certainly no Jim Colborn, plus many, if not most, Dodgers fans still think fondly of him. Remember how learning Gagne's changeup temporarily turned around Guillermo Mota's career as part of the stalwart Dodger bullpens of 2003-04? Can you imagine him lumbering out to the mound to knock some sense into Jonathan Broxton's fragile psyche? Or what about the massive sweat-off any time he visits Chad Billingsley? When I mentioned the idea, my friend took the brilliance one step further. Think "Welcome to the Jungle" accompanied by the Game Over Gagne faces flashing on the scoreboards every time he makes a mound visit. This sounds like a winning idea for all involved.

Good luck, Eric.