PHILADELPHIA Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will miss six to eight weeks after having surgery Friday to remove a nerve from his pitching elbow.

The operation is the second for Gagne in less than a year, and the nerve that was removed was the same one that was moved during a 2005 season-ending operation.

A near-unanimous winner of the NL Cy Young Award in 2003, Gagne saved 152 games from 2002-04.

Danys Baez, a proven closer acquired from Tampa Bay during the offseason, will fill Gagne's role.