Gagne Pumps Up Beltre Case for MVP

DENVER —  Eric Gagne knows what it takes to win a major award, and the All-Star closer said third baseman Adrian Beltre has the right stuff.

“If he’s not the NL MVP right now, I don’t know who is,” said Gagne, the 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner. “There are a lot of great players in this league, in this game, but look at how Belly has carried us all year.

“You look around the game at a lot of good teams, and Belly is as good or better than anybody. Just look at what he’s doing.”

Before Monday’s games, Beltre was third in the NL with 27 home runs, fourth with 71 runs batted in, fifth with a .614 slugging percentage, sixth with a .328 batting average and tied for eighth with 113 hits. He also topped the Dodgers with 59 runs.

On Monday, Beltre was one for five, hitting his 28th home run, a solo shot in a 9-7 victory over the Rockies.

If the season ended today, Gagne said Beltre would face strong competition from Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Thome, among others, for the MVP award. Gagne, however, said the award should go to the Dodger cleanup batter, who has overcome the burden of great expectations while leading the surprising team to the top of the NL West.

“He’s had a hard time,” said Gagne, who first played with Beltre in the minor leagues in 1996. “People have expected so much of him when he was so young, and then he had to hear all the time that he didn’t hit in the first half, he didn’t do this and he didn’t do that.

“He struggled for so long like that with all of the negativity he would hear from all over the place. He could have just quit working hard and still made a lot of money in this game, but he didn’t do that. He works hard every day, he’s hitting early in the cage every day, and you guys [reporters] and the fans don’t see that.

“He’s working on his defense, which comes easy to him, but he’s still there working on it every day. And he’s hurt too. Baseball is just beautiful to watch when he plays the game, and I’m just so proud of him.”

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The Dodgers are among many teams struggling to make trades before Saturday’s non-waiver deadline, baseball executives and agents said.

With 10 teams within 6 1/2 games of the NL wild-card lead before Monday’s games, more general managers considered themselves buyers than sellers.

“There are a lot of teams that think they’re still in it,” Dodger General Manager Paul DePodesta said recently. “And the market isn’t that big for us because we’re only going to make a move if there’s someone out there better than the guys we already have. We’re not going to make a move just to make one.”

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Leadoff batter Dave Roberts, who suffered a strained neck Saturday, said he felt better and took batting practice. Roberts walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and stole his 32nd base. ... Hideo Nomo (rotator cuff inflammation) is scheduled for another bullpen session today. ... Rookie starter Edwin Jackson (strained right forearm) continued his throwing program. Manager Jim Tracy said there was no timetable for Jackson’s return from the disabled list.