Gagne Reaches Preliminary Deal With Rangers

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The New York Sun

Reliever Eric Gagne and the Texas Rangers reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a one-year contract worth about $6 million.

The agreement was confirmed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. The deal would allow Gagne to earn about $5 million more in performance bonuses.

While Gagne’s deal was still pending, the Rangers finalized and announced a $6 million, one-year contract for center fielder Kenny Lofton, a sixtime All-Star. Texas also met with freeagent pitcher Mark Mulder.

“It was a case where a team was wanting to win,” Lofton said. “That’s what I’m all about, and I talked to (new Rangers manager Ron) Washington a lot about it. They said they were going to put the pieces together and if they had a guy like me on the team that the pieces would fall together a little bit quicker. So, I’m like, here we go.”

The Rangers will be the 12th team for Lofton, who has been to the playoffs 10 times with six teams in his 15 major league seasons. He is a .299 career hitter with 599 stolen bases. Lofton, who turns 40 in July, hit .301 with 32 stolen bases for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year.

Gagne, the 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner, must pass a physical before his contract can be finalized.


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