Well, none of us should be surprised by now, but Eric Gagne's done for the season. Again. He will undergo back surgery to repair a herniated disk in his spine, as we all watch him eat up the amount remaining on the $19 million we gave him two years ago. This is a huge bummer. We had all thought it was just the phantom nerve pain in his elbow that was bothering him (which is impossibly strange since he already had the nerve in his elbow REMOVED), but now we learn he just wakes up one day out of the blue with back pain. And Voila! He has a herniated disk. How does this happen? If he just slept on it wrong, we need to find the guy who sold Gagne his mattress and beat his ass up. Larry, watch your back. You won't be giving out any FREEEEEEEE Spring Airs once I'm done with you.

So now it's official. The weight of the entire bullpen falls upon the shoulders of Broxton, Beimel, Baez, Cararra, and Saito. Not the group we imagined at the beginning of the season, but they'll have to do. So far, other than Saito, they've had about as much consistency as a five month old gallon of milk. Hopefully now they can get the "We just have to hold the fort until Gagne's back" thought out of their heads and start becoming the real forces they can be at the end of games.

And thank God Nomar made the final vote for the All-Star team. The NL is packed now with 4 first basemen on the roster, but I'm sure they can stick Lance Berkman in the outfield somewhere and let Nomar, who ironically might be the best defensive first baseman out of the 4, get some playing time after Pujols exits. As for the AL vote, well, AJ Pierzynski got in over guys like Travis Hafner and Fransisco Liriano. Are AL fans idiots? Were they really fooled by the White Sox marketing team's "Punch AJ" campaign? Please. He's having a great year, but there's no freaking way in hell he should make it over Hafner, Lirano or Justin Verlander. Let's just hope Mark Redman eats a bad burrito and can't pitch, so one of these guys can take his place.

Speaking of Nomar and Gagne, it's not too early to think what we're going to do with these guys in the offseason. If Nomar continues this pace, he'll end the season hitting around .360 with over 20 homers and 100 RBI's. To keep him we'd have to break the bank and give him a $10 million per year deal. And Gagne? Is there anyone in all of baseball who doesn't think this guy is done? His body has become less durable than past Dodger infirmary residents Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort. Injuries both led to the ends of their careers. It's hard to think Gagne's situation is any different at this point. Resigning him just wouldn't be smart. With what we're gonna have to pay Nomar, payroll will be pushed to way over the $100 million mark that Frank McCourt wants it to be. Of course, after we let him go there's a chance Gagne's gonna heal up, sign with someone else, and shove it up the Dodgers' asses for the next three years but I'll take that chance. Eric, we all love you. You were the greatest reliever in the history of baseball for a few years, but we won't be able to keep you unless you accept a gigantic pay cut.

Oh, and one final note: Damn all you people who rushed out to see Pirates of the Carribean on the first day and bought up all the tickets. Damn You! No one says SOLD OUT to Steve! NO ONE! Assholes.