Eric

Gagne

With a four-game series against the Giants beginning tonight, and a 3-run lead in the ninth inning yesterday, it’s easy to say that manager Jim Tracy should have gone with Paul Quantrill to close out Wednesday’s game and give Gagne a day off. Tracy does point to the fact that Gagne hasn’t thrown many pitches despite his use.

Tracy is free to take a job elsewhere, but with the Phillies and Mets jobs gone, he’s left with little in the way of alternatives. Something will be worked out.

Gagne made $5 million in his first season of arbitration eligibility. He’s due $8 million-$9 million this year, so it could take $20 million to get a two-year deal done.

''I iced it right away, and I’m walking on it,’' he said. Gagne remains scheduled for an MRI today.

Gagne is the first closer to save six consecutive games since Rod Beck in 1998. Manager Jim Tracy said, ''We’re not even going to entertain that thought [of Gagne pitching tonight]. There is a limit, and we’ve reached it.’' If the Dodgers have a save chance tonight they have lots of pitchers who could nail it down, but our money is on Guillermo Mota.

''He’s loosened up considerably,’' manager Jim Tracy said. ''I’m very pleased to hear that.’' Gagne should return to game action very soon.

Gagne is being allowed to set his own schedule this spring. He’d prefer to pitch just seven or eight innings to get ready for the season.

The Dodgers might buy out some arbitration time with a two- or a three-year deal, but they’re not going to spend what it would take to keep Eric Gagne from becoming a free agent after 2006. That’s a situation that can be doubt with at a later date.

“The only thing I can control is what I do on the mound, but then I’ve got [three] more years and then I’m a free agent,” Gagne said."That’s the only time I’m going to have any leverage, which is when I can do whatever I want.” Gagne said he’d still “love” to receive a multiyear deal from the Dodgers, so it doesn’t seem that he’s that upset with the team yet. It’s probably something that the Dodgers will look into after the season.

Gagne is feeling good, but the lack of work this spring means that it will be some time before he’s firing 98-mph fastballs past National League hitters. Don’t be too concerned if he has a poor April.