Written by Erik Cassano

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Eric Gagne signed with the Texas Rangers yesterday, inking a deal that will pay him 6 million dollars next season, and as much as 11 million bucks if he hits all of his incentive clauses. The signing closes the books on the Indians pursuit of the risky Gagne ... but what will the team do with the dollars they had allocated to offer him? I knew the idea of having Joe Borowski and Eric Gagne as a two-headed monster at the back of the Indians bullpen was too good to be true.

The Indians were a finalist for Gagne's services, but lost out to the Rangers. Gagne reportedly agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with Texas on Tuesday.

Oh well. It would be a fine pipe dream to imagine both Gagne and Borowski staying healthy for an entire season, but the reality is probably going to be different. And Borowski probably has a better chance of enduring 162 games without a DL stint than does Gagne.

I'd still like to see the Indians add one more veteran arm to the back of the bullpen. Given the advanced age of Roberto Hernandez and the potential shoulder problems hovering over Borowski, I think it would be a good insurance policy to take out.

Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, the only way to add another arm of note would likely be in a trade, which likely means parting with a young player.

We'll see what type of deals are out there to be made, and what type of stomach GM Mark Shapiro has for toying with his farm system.

If there is any confidence to be had in Shapiro, it's that he'll know where to draw the line. We probably won't have to worry about another Brian Giles-for-Ricardo Rincon deal going down.