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Free Agents catcher Paul Lo Duca and reliever Eric Gagne signed $5 million and $10 million, one year deals with the Washington Nationals and the Milwaukee Brewers respectively.
Lo Duca is tapped to replace Brian Schneider behind the plate. Schneider was part of the recent trade with the Mets in which the Nationals obtained young outfielder Lastings Milledge.
AP sportswriter Howard Fendwich notes for Yahoo sports;
Four-time All-Star from 2003-06, Lo Duca hit .272 with nine homers and a .311 on-base percentage last season that was the lowest of any Mets regular — and lower than Schneider’s .326. Both Lo Duca and Schneider drove in 54 runs.
Reliever Eric Gagne, who pitched in 34 games with the Texas Rangers, saved 16 before being traded to Boston at the end of July and flopping both as a closer and set-up man in August and September. He gave up 3 runs in 4 1/3 innings in the AL playoffs and the World Series. Gagne was 2-2 for the Red Sox with a 6.75 ERA in 20 games and finished with a 4-2 record and a 3.81 ERA overall for 2007.
Gagne gets a chance to redeem himself as a closer for the Brewers who lost Francisco Cordero two weeks ago to the Cincinnati Reds via free agency.
Gagne pitched for the L.A. Dodgers between 2002-2004, saving a MLB record 152 games during that period and winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2003. He also owns the MLB record for most consecutive conversions of save opportunites with 84.
Gagne then missed most of the 2005 and 2006 seasons due to injury, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2005 and suffering a serious back injury in 2006. Gagne signed with the Texas Rangers for the 2007 season.
Source: Free Agent Signings: Gagne to Brewers, Lo Duca to Nationals
