Flash Gordon to Phillies

Tom Gordon has agreed to a 3-year deal worth $18 million to be the closer for the Phillies. I always liked Gordon - so I'm happy for him and his new contract. As a Red Sox fan - I'm even more happy that he's no longer with the Yankees.

With Gordon signing - the list of available free agent closers has shrunk to Octavio Dotel, Danny Graves, Trevor Hoffman, Todd Jones, Byung-Hyun Kim, Braden Looper, Jose Mesa, Uggie Urbina, and Bob Wickman. Talk about a group with issues.

I can see Wickman re-signing with the Indians because I understand he's a pretty loyal guy (although I can't see him duplicating his 2005 success). I can also see Trevor Hoffman becoming very popular with the Atlanta Braves (although I also see the Padres offering him just enough to stay put ala Brian Giles). With the rest of the group basically being flotsam and jetsam - I can see the Kansas City Royals becoming a popular team at the winter meetings.

The Royals may suck but they have two closers who I'm sure they will listen to offers for. They have Mike MacDougal who can throw 100 mph but has control issues and is injury prone. MacDougal is expendable because he's arbitration eligible and the Royals also have lefty Jeremy Affeldt. I bet that one of these two get traded within a couple of weeks. If I were the Braves or Orioles - I'd put on the hard sell for MacDougal because I think he's just one good pitching coach away from being a top closer.