21
2009
Mets Would Be Smart To Keep Wagner… For Now
An article by 
Jon Heyman is reporting that Billy Wagner has been claimed on waivers, probably by the Cubs, hopefully not the Phillies or Marlins who are also rumored to be interested. The Mets now have 3 days to either work out a trade, let him go with nothing in return, or pull him back as they did with Gary Sheffield.
My advice to Omar… I say pull him back and keep him…
Before all of you start jumping down my throat, allow me the courtesy of explaining my position.Jo
First, let me show you a few of the most recent deals signed by closers just before the 2009 season.
Brian Fuentes signed a free agent deal with the Angels for two years, $17.5 million dollars.
Brad Lidge signed an extension with the Phillies for three years, $37.5 million dollars.
Kerry Wood signed a free agent deal with the Indians for two years, $20.5 million dollars.
Francisco Rodriguez signed a free agent deal with the Mets for three years, $37 million dollars
A little more research before I get to my point. Here is a trade deadline deal that involved Orioles closer, George Sherrill.
Baltimore traded closer George Sherrill to the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospects Josh Bell (3B, Class AA) and Steve Johnson (P, Class AA). Bell had a .296 average, .364 OBP, 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 334 at-bats. Bell, fit the Oriole’s biggest need: a power-hitting corner infield prospect, and becomes the third baseman of the future. Johnson had a 9-5 record, 3.61 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 18 starts. The 21-year-old right-hander was born in Baltimore, drafted by the Dodgers in the 13th round of the 2005 draft and was recently called up to pitch for Chattanooga. He was ranked the 15th best prospect in the Dodgers system by Baseball America.
Here are a few reasons why hanging onto Wagner and picking up his option makes a lot of sense for the Mets.
- The option on Billy Wagner’s contract is just $8 million dollars. Far lower than the going rate for a premier closer such as him, especially a lefthander.
- The Mets would be able to get much more in value by waiting and trading him with with a bargain one-year contract, instead of peddling him to a contender with just one month left to the season.
- The Mets would have more leverage by trading Billy Wagner at the Winter Meetings, than moving him now when every team knows how desperate they are.
- If the Mets financial fortunes should change for the better, or if their woes have been overstated, they can even opt to keep him and give the team a lethal 1-2 punch with Frankie Rodriguez.
The more Billy Wagner pitches and proves he’s healthy, the more the Mets would be able to get. It would be silly to cart him out there for 3-4 appearances and then just move him for table scraps without really letting him continue to pitch and increase his value to the Mets.
All I’m saying is that the Mets should consider all their options before making a move they might regret down the road. There was some speculation that the Marlins and Phillies might be interested in Wagner. Why in the world would we help them advance to the post season, and then see them pick up his option and either keep him or trade him for a boatload of talent? How does that scenario help the Mets?
Let’s rethink this whole trading Billy Wagner kick before we shoot ourselves in the foot. Last night’s performance changes everything.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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Wagner wants to leave.
Says “Might be the closest I ever get to a World Series.”
Harsh words.
This is the complete opposite of the Sheffield situation. You gotta keep him and get much more in rhe off season. You’re right Joe.
Totally disagree. His value won’t be any higher in the off-season than it is now. In the off-season players get older. If he pitches and shows right now he can help a team in the 8th inning that has a shot at the World Series, he’s of more value now than to just gamble on it in the off-season.
Money is going to control this situation, and the option in his contract makes everything interesting. The option means that we may be giving a team a quick rental with a cheap buyout, or it could mean that we give a team two playoff runs with him. That makes negotiating difficult, as other teams will want to pay for a two month rental, while the Mets will want more value because the other team could get him for 1.5 seasons.
The money troubles on the Mets may force them to trade him now, but if we want anything close to decent, we’ll have to eat a chunk of money.
BTW: This offseason’s FA closer class has Hoffman, Valverde, Soriano, Rodney, and Kevin Gregg. Valverde is going to get the biggest deal.
Also, if they do pick up the option, they could deal him to an AL team.
This could go either way, but I don’t think he’ll bee around by the end of the weekend (depending on who claimed him, of course).
I think the smart move is to KEEP Wags. This year is done, next year you may have a chance and Wags/Krod/Putz/Stokes/Feliciano/Parnell? has a nice feel-if you discover that the Mets really suck, then you can trade him THEN and STILL get the prospects, maybe even more. This of course means the Mets will trade him for a nobody who never sniffs the ML roster
Very good plan. Your way all of our relievers would only pitch one inning. the last three should be the strongest. No other team has that 1-2-3 punch
16 million on two relievers…who cares if we have the best bullpen in baseball when the rest of our team SUCKS…I can think of 20 ways that those 16 million dollars can be put to good use.
Trade him now for two prospects…Wagner has a no trade clause which i’m sure he would still have if the Mets pick up his option, which would make the trading thing difficult next year. He’s a type A player which means the Mets get two compensations for him…they have to get at least two prospects from the redsox.
Toronto is looking for a closer.Why not trade him there,in a package for Halladay.Toronto will save 7 mill,in a straight up trade.Even if we have to add Parnell thats a good trade.
Wow parnell and wagner for Halladay…the phils were trying to get him with like 100% times much better talent than that and couldnt. Are you serious? This isnt MVP Playstation games dude
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DEAL HIM NOW 8.5M ON WAGNER, 8M OPTION ON PUTZ THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES, YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING. NOW, THAT WE KNOW IT’S BOSOX, LET HIM GO OUTSIDE LEAGUE, GET AS MUCH AS U CAN FROM THEIR MILB TALENT DEPTH WHILE THEY’RE AS DESPERATE AS WE ARE IF NOT MORE SO. TX & TB BREATHING THEIR EXHAUST FUMES.