MORE SHAME FOR ERIC GAGNE AND ANOTHER INDY SHORTSTOP GETS TO A BIG LEAGUE CAMP

Eric Gagne has spent a chunk of his early days back in the Los Angeles Dodgers' spring training camp trying to explain his admitted "shame" at the use of human growth hormone (HGH). He needs to apologize on another front, too.

The onetime record-breaking closer, who now is trying to get back to the major league level, should ask for forgiveness from both the Can-Am League and the fans of Quebec. Of all people he wants to offend, it would seem to this corner, would be his native French-speaking Canadians. And what about the Quebec Capitales, who kept handing him the baseball every five days, even when he had trouble breaking a pane of glass at times and his earned run average was hovering around 10.00. The ERA got to 10.80 after his fourth start last June, and even though he had given up 20 earned runs in his last 15.1 innings he started once more six days later.

The offense to the Can-Am League and to the predominately French fans? It wasn't HGH this time. He said the Can-Am was like a "beer league", and it seems doubtful this was a misquote since it appeared in stories from the likes of ESPNLosAngeles.com and MLB.com. He must have been talking in similar fashion to The Los Angeles Times or it seems unlikely writer T. J. Simers would have talked about "the baseball pits in Canada" when he discussed Gagne's recent baseball opportunities.

I wonder how this will make his Capitales teammates feel.

"I'm so ashamed," Gagne told The Times, referring to HGH. "It wasn't smart. If I knew what I know now...I didn't need it. I regret it so much, just now maybe getting over the guilt. It was stupid."

So were the thoughtless remarks about Quebec, where the 17 starts and 102.2 innings (6-6, 4.65) gave the 34-year-old enough work despite his inconsistency to have a hope of making a comeback to add to the millions of dollars he already has collected from baseball.

Shame on you, Eric.

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A MIDDLE INFIELDER GETS INVITED TO CAMP

The late addition of Eric Gagne jumped the count of players who have toiled in an Independent league and now are invited to major league spring training camps to 41, with all of one middle infielder in the group. That is Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew, who played at Camden, NJ in the Atlantic League, but even then he was a touted prospect instead of someone who truly had to work his way through the professional baseball system.

Make it two shortstops, now. Ed Rogers, who came out of the Dominican Republic and signed with Baltimore when he was barely 19, is going to camp as a non-roster invitee with Arizona. Now 31, Rogers got a taste of Independent Baseball last summer when he hit .299 in 33 games (38-for-127) with Bridgeport, CT of the Atlantic League. Rogers has 30 games of major league play to his credit, spread over three seasons (2002, '05, '06) with the Orioles.

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GAGNE HEADED BACK TO DODGERS; RAUL VALDES AND ROGER LA FRANCOIS ALSO IN THE NEWS

Can you go back home? This is not a reference to Tiger Woods, but rather to onetime unbeatable Los Angeles Dodgers relief ace Eric Gagne.

Gagne's problem seems much simpler of the two. His is more a question of how much speed and movement remain on his bread and butter pitches. The Dodgers and Gagne have reportedly agreed on a minor league contract ($500,000 plus a similar amount in incentives) and an invitation to the major league spring training camp in Glendale, AZ, according to the reliable keyboard of Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. He said the deal could be announced as early as today (Friday).

If the 34-year-old Gagne, who has suffered through elbow and back surgery since his glory days, can make it back he will owe a big thank you to the Quebec Capitales of the Can-Am League. They had Gagne in their starting rotation last season (6-6, 4.65 and 64 strikeouts in 102.2 innings). It was an up and down summer on the mound although the Capitales are grateful Gagne packed Stade Municipal de Quebec on various occasions with other home-grown French-speaking fans.

Gagne was the Dodgers' greatest closer in their history--and one of baseball's best--including three All-Star selections, the '2003 National League Cy Young Award and an unprecedented 84 consecutive saves. Milwaukee released him last spring training.

Gagne also worked out for Philadelphia this winter, and had an offer, Gurnick says, from Colorado, but preferred returning to the Dodgers. Gagne would boost to 41, including 26 pitchers, the number of players with Independent experience who will be in major league camps. We ran the entire list in our subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider column earlier this week.

THREE-FOURTHS OF CARIBBEAN SERIES PITCHERS HAVE HAD INDY TIME

We missed former Can-Am hurler Raul Valdes when we singled out Nelson Figueroa, now with the New York Mets, and St. Louis non-roster invitee Pete Parise in this space for making the all-tournament team at the end of the Caribbean Series. The left-handed Valdes pitched with both Nashua, NH and the New Jersey Jackals (Little Falls) in 2006. This trio made up three quarters of the all-tourney pitching selections. Figueroa spent some time with the Long Island (NY) Ducks of the Atlantic League while Parise, who figures to draw considerable attention during spring training because of his Triple-A closing feats last summer as well as winter baseball, started his pro career with Slippery Rock, PA (Frontier League).

LA FRANCOIS RETURNS TO AFFILIATED GAME

Onetime Boston Red Sox catcher Roger LaFrancois, who has been coaching in the Can-Am League in recent years (Worcester, MA and New Haven County in Connecticut), will be hitting coach this summer for St. Louis's rookie league team in Johnson City, TN. One can only hope it will start a good run with the Cardinals for LaFrancois, both a competent hitting coach and a good guy.

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BURKE TO RE-JOIN SAN DIEGO SYSTEM; TWO OTHER HURLERS ALSO REAPPEAR

I have not seen an announcement, but IndyBaseballChatter.com has it on good authority that former Atlantic League hurler Greg Burke will rejoin San Diego. The Padres released the onetime Atlantic City, NJ righty last week when they needed 40-man roster space.

Presumably, Burke will sign a minor league deal with a major league spring training invitation, but with his 3-3 record and 4.14 earned run average for 48 National League appearances after an early-season call from Triple-A one would believe he would have an excellent opportunity to be back on the major league roster by Opening Day. That's not a bad performance, by any measure, especially for a first-time major leaguer.

TWO FAMILIAR NAMES SHOW UP IN MINORS ONCE AGAIN

These are not old-timers, still it was surprising to see right-handed pitchers Jermaine Van Buren and Nick Maness show up as new minor league signings. Van Buren is with Florida and Maness with Washington.

Van Buren, 29, made a rapid climb from Fort Worth, TX then of the Central League (the American Association today) where he was 9-4 (3.07 ERA) as a starter in 2003 to the Chicago Cubs' parent club two seasons later and some time with the Boston Red Sox in 2006. He was a combined 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA for 16 major league games. The Mississippian has not pitched in U.S. circles since 2007 although he was the saves leader in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (Taiwan) in 2008. Florida has Van Buren on its Triple-A New Orleans roster.

It has been even longer since Maness, 32, last appeared in a professional game. He started 2006 with the Newark (NJ) Bears in the Atlantic League, going 2-2, 5.35 in 19 relief appearances. A onetime prospect who started playing professionally in 1997, Maness finished that season relieving once then starting seven times for Pensacola, FL in the American Association. He finished with a 2-4 record and a 4.62 earned run average. Maness spent part of 2005 with New Haven, CT of the Can-Am League, and also played for Camden, NJ in the Atlantic League and the traveling Aces of the Northeast League.

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TWINS GIVE NEWARK'S JACQUE JONES ANOTHER TRY, BUT GREG BURKE LOSES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE JOB WITH PADRES

This is one of those times when I might ask "do you want the good news first or the bad news".

Okay, here is the good news. The Minnesota Twins are giving veteran major league outfielder a fresh opportunity, following up on a season in which the 34-year-old's only activity was for 28 games in the Atlantic League. Jones, a .277, 165-home run hitter for 1,302 major league games, hit .311 along with five round-trippers and 25 runs batted in for the Newark (NJ) Bears' major league-loaded team for five weeks last June and July. He had slumped to a combined .147 average in 42 combined games with Detroit and Florida in 2008 after playing a minimum of 135 games in each of the previous eight major league seasons.

"He's one of the good, hard-working guys that we've had in this organization and he's one of the guys that helped us become a playoff team," praised Twins General Manager Bill Smith to MLB.com when Minnesota announced the signing of the left-handed hitter to a minor league contract and a major league spring training invitation.

GREG BURKE LET GO BY PADRES

Greg Burke had what seemed to be a solid rookie major league season in 2009, working 46 innings in 48 games and posting a 3-3 record with a 4.14 earned run average. Right-handers hit only .208 against him, but San Diego asked unconditional waivers Tuesday when it needed 40-man roster space after signing Yorvit Torrealba as its likely backup catcher.

It is difficult to imagine Burke will be idle long, because he will play most of 2010 at the age of 27. The right-hander started his pro career with Atlantic City, NJ of the Atlantic League in 2005 (1-2, 3.70 in 25 games), then was inked by the Padres out of a tryout camp the next spring. His climb toward the majors accelerated in Double-A in 2008 and a 3-0, seven-save, 2.25 start in 13 games at Triple-A Portland, OR last season before joining the parent club.

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FIGUEROA, PARISE GIVE THE INDY GAME TWO MEMBERS ON THE CARIBBEAN SERIES ALL-STAR TEAM

Veteran Nelson Figueroa and fast-rising rookie Pete Parise will be able to carry a little extra pride when they report to spring training camps within the next two weeks.

The right-handers, both with Independent Baseball time on their resumes, were two of the four pitchers who made the Caribbean Series all-star team. Figueroa helped the Dominican Republic win the four-country competition with his complete-game, three-hit, eight-strikeout win over Mexico. Figueroa, who worked briefly for the Long Island (NY) Ducks of the Atlantic League, hopes to be back with the New York Mets, either as the fifth starter or in the bullpen.

Parise, who we featured in last week's Independent Baseball Insider column, seems destined to get quality attention from the St. Louis Cardinals after picking up where he left off with his hot finish last season as the closer for Triple-A Memphis. The 25-year-old pitched in three of Puerto Rico's six Caribbean Series games, posting a perfect 0.00 ERA and striking out seven while allowing only four hits over six innings. Parise started his professional career in 2007, pitching for Slippery Rock, PA in the Frontier League. He is a non-roster invitee for St. Louis

Another 25-year-old out of the Frontier League (Florence, KY) also got steady playing time in the Caribbean Series. Venezuelan native Erold Andrus went 5-for-22 (.227). Among Atlantic League vets, Bill Pulsipher (Long Island) went 1-0, 1.80 in five innings, former Duck and current pitching coach Bill Simas had an identical earned run average for his five frames. Jason Simontacchi (Long Island and Bridgeport, CT) was at 1.59 for 5.2 innings, Heath Totten (York, PA) lost a game but had a 3.86 ERA in 4.2 innings. First baseman Willis Otanez (Bridgeport and Newark, NJ) was 3-for-13 (.231), playing in four of six games for the Dominican champs.

NON-ROSTER COUNT STAYS AT 18

As the number of major league teams that have not announced their full list of non-roster invitees for spring training narrows, the count of onetime Independent players on the list that we can identify continues to hold at 18. This is in addition to 22 players already on 40-man winter rosters.

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INJURED HURLER GETS ANOTHER CHANCE; SO DO THOSE IN 11-PLAYER SWAP

It is nice to hear that Aaron Cunningham, the 26-year-old lefty who was hit squarely on the jaw by a line drive last season, has recovered to the point he will get another chance to pitch for the Shreveport-Bossier (LA) Captains this season.

"It was nasty," General Manager Craig Brasfield told me this week of the incident when I interviewed him for the lead story in this week's Independent Baseball Insider column, which went out to subscribers Thursday.

Brasfield said Cunningham, who has spent the last four seasons (his entire pro career to this point) with the American Association team, was in the Captains' offices recently and will be coming back for pre-season camp. The 6-foot-3 hurler from The Woodlands, TX had moved into the Captains' rotation for the first time in his pro career only to be injured in his sixth start on July 2. He has a combined 6-10 record and 4.07 earned run average for his four seasons.

11-PLAYER TRADE

Baseball fans realize that the number of trades has been significantly reduced at the major league level because of the complexities of big contracts. Trades carried so much offseason chit chat among fans.

With the need for a change of scenery or the desire to play closer to home and something less than huge salaries as factors, trades still occur with frequency in the Independent ranks. They even take place between leagues, especially before a new season starts.

The Kalamazoo (MI) Kings of the Frontier League and the new Lake County Fielders from Zion, IL in the Northern League got together this week in a dandy. Eleven players were swapped. It stands to reason some of the movement came about because more advanced Kalamazoo players probably were projected as being ready for the more veteran Northern League while some of those on the Lake County roster could benefit from getting playing time with others of their age in the Frontier. Lake County got seven of the players with the Kings receiving four plus what was described as future considerations.

FIGUEROA SHARP; HOPES METS KNOW IT

"I can only hope that the Mets are watching this and they are happy with the work I am doing," veteran right-hander Nelson Figueroa told MLB.com after his eight-strikeout, 7-1 complete-game victory for the Dominican Republic in the on-going Caribbean Series. Figueroa, who has pitched for five major league teams but has yet to get in a full season at that level, is expected to compete for the fifth spot in New York's rotation after his 3-8, 4.09 performance in 70.1 innings last season.

He has "shown he has the stuff to pitch (in the majors)," said Ken Oberkfell, who managed Figueroa during his time at Buffalo (7-5, 2.25) and is his skipper with Escongido. "He'll be ready in spring training instead of trying to build himself up to that. He's a competitor."

Oberkfell and Figueroa both has logged time in the Independent game. Oberkfell was a manager in the Northeast League (Mohawk Valley and Elmira, NY) while Figueroa worked briefly for the Long Island (NY) Ducks in the Atlantic League.

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