Gagne with a spoon

Last night, Christine was bemused by some Internet commenters who were howling for Ruben Amaro Jr.'s head because he signed Brandon Duckworth to a minor league contract. We couldn't believe that someone would rip a GM for signing a veteran to be organization filler at AAA. It's not like he was being billed as the backup plan in case the Phillies have an encore of the 2009 Brad Lidge.

No one suggested that Mr. Stinkypants has the slightest chance of being a significant part of the Phillies major league pitching staff. But one possible plan B for the Phillies will have me calling for Amaro's head. Here's Scott Lauber's account:

Last week, after the revelation that Brad Lidge had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery and may not be ready for the start of the season, I asked Ruben Amaro Jr. if the Phillies now need to find another veteran reliever for their already injury-riddled bullpen.

"Our needs haven't changed," Amaro told Philled In. "We're still going to try to create some depth if we can."

He indicated that the Phillies would continue to target mostly "low-risk, high-reward" pitchers whose price tag has dropped because they've received fewer offers than they anticipated. Essentially, Amaro is bargain-hunting.

In that spirit, the Phillies will send scouts to watch Eric Gagne throw today in Arizona, according to a sports-radio station in Quebec. (Big assist to Google for translating the report from French into something resembling English.)

Gag me.

Please.

With a spoon.

I can't imagine being more bitter toward a player who ultimately did not cost my team a championship. There's no indication that poor trade in 2007 hurt the eventual World Champions, but Gagne was horrible and his acquisition gave the Red Sox another mention in baseball's steroid scandal.

Don't do it, Ruben. With J.C. Romero, your bullpen has its fill of SoxandPhils with drug baggage.

More bad pitching acquisitions: Fangraphs proclaimed the winter of 2006 the worst ever in terms of contracts given to free agent pitchers. The SoxandPhils helped out with the $24 million wasted on Adam Eaton and Daisuke Matzusaka's $52 million contract. I still have hope the Dice-K gambit will pay off.