Best bullpen in baseball Gags again

Gag - verb (gagged, gagging) 1 put a gag on. 2 choke or retch.

From the Oxford English Dictionary.

From here on out - Gags is my nickname for Eric Gagne, the trade-deadline pitcher that was supposed to propel Boston to the World Series. And it ain't because he's a laugh riot or 'cause he's silencing anyone.

I'm already on record as saying I didn't like the trade. Like Paul over at Behind Enemy Lines, I'm an, "It ain't broke, don't fix it," sort of guy when it comes to sports. If there was anything broken on the Sox, it certainly wasn't their bullpen. Could they have used some better hitters coming off the bench - sure, what team couldn't. But the bullpen? Before they traded for Gagne they had the best bullpen in the league.

But Gagne? Gagne has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Behind Enemy Lines already commented on Friday's Gag, and I was willing to let it go since anyone can have a bad day - but in his brief career with the Red Sox (and I'm not positive, but I think these numbers don't completely include today's fiasco), batters are hitting a whopping .474 off of Gags to go along with an astronomical ERA of 16.20, he has blown two hold/save chances and has almost given up as many runs (6) in a Sox uniform as he had in his entire time with Texas (8).

Given my choice, I will say it again - I would have kept Gabbard.

Gabbard gave the Sox four wins. Gags has given the Sox two losses.

Gags brings back memories of the Human Angioplasty, Heathcliff Socumb - but without that occasional ability to be clutch.

Early returns - it's looking like Theo got taken to the cleaners by the Rangers. As for myself - I'd rather have a team with Wily Mo and Kason, than one with Gags.

So much for sabermetrics.