It has been only 11 months since undergoing Tommy John surgery, but Billy Wagner has been progressing quite well in his minor league rehab assignment. He has made four appearances facing live hitters and is yet to give up a run. His fastball has been clocked at 94 MPH and most importantly, he has not felt any pain in his surgically repaired elbow. Although he has not pitched in back-to-back games, the team expects him to do so at some point next week before recalling him to New York.
According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, barring any setbacks, Wagner could make his return to the Mets in about 10 days. That means he would be pitching for the big club at some point during the next homestand. This would give the team a week or two to decide what they should do with Wagner before the August 31 deadline for teams to set their postseason rosters. They have numerous options. They could:
- Keep him for the rest of the season in the hopes of picking up his $8 million option for 2010. His option for next year is $600,000 less than JJ Putz’s $8.6 million option. If Wagner proves that he is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, he could provide much-needed help to Pedro Feliciano as a second left-handed reliever for Jerry Manuel to use out of the bullpen. Obviously, he would also be able to step in at closer should Francisco Rodriguez falter or get injured.
- Buy him out for $1 million, allowing Wagner to become a free agent. He could be a potential Type A free agent, meaning the Mets would receive a 2010 draft pick from the team that signs him. In addition to their own first round pick, the Mets would receive a “sandwich” pick, which is a supplemental draft pick squeezed in between the first and second rounds.
- Trade him to a contender to give him a greater opportunity to pitch in the postseason as a set-up man or his customary closer role. Should Wagner clear waivers, a deal before the August 31 deadline would net the Mets a number of prospects that could help the team or be used as bargaining chips in future trades.
The last week or two of August will prove to be a challenging one for the New York Mets with regards to the future of Billy Wagner. Due to the season-ending injury to Jonathon Niese, Bobby Parnell has been removed from the bullpen and inserted into the starting rotation. Should he do well in his first major league start against the Padres, he may hold on to his new role, therefore allowing Wagner to slide into the bullpen spot that was vacated by Parnell.
The decisions are many, but the time is limited. There have been too many wrong decisions made this year. Here is a chance for the Mets to finally make a correct decision that will help the team in 2009 and beyond. If it was up to you, what would you do with Billy Wagner? Would you keep him around for 2009 and beyond? Would you buy him out and reap the potential benefits of a gaggle of draft picks? How about trading him to a contender, giving him a chance to play deep into October while adding valuable prospects to the farm system? I surely wouldn’t want to be the GM on this one!
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
In order to receive a draft pick from another team that signs him, the Mets would have to offer arbitration to Wagner, which, if he accepted, would cost the Mets a ton of money. It’s doubtful that they will offer him arbitration so they probably won’t receive any draft pick.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
HAS THERE BEEN A BIGGER EGO PLAYING FOR THIS FRANCHISE THIS CENTURY? I DON’T THINK SO. I DO NOT ANTICIPATE BILLY WAGS ACCEPTING A SUPPORT ROLE AS SETUP OR LOOGIE AT LEAST NOT DELIBERATLY & WITH FRANKIE THAT ROLE IS FILLED. A SPARE PART? THAT’S WORSE THAN SETUP/LOOGIE. DO YOU REALLY WANT A MALCONTENT WAGNER SPOUTING OFF WITH VENOM? THIS IS NOT AFFABLE JOHNNY FRANCO THIS IS “KNOW YOUR PLACE,ROOK WAGNER. I DON’T EVER SEE HIM ACCEPTING ARBITRATION TO BE ANY ONES CADDY OR UNDERSTUDY. WHAT EVER COURSE COSTS THE LEAST; BUT YIELDS THE BEST PROSPECT IS THE WAY I’D GO.
Buy him out and take the picks. The Mets couldn’t give Abreu $5M but they’ll give Wagner $8M to be a setup guy? I don’t see it happening.
If you buy him out, you don’t get picks. In order to get picks, you have to offer arbitration and he has to turn it down.
If Wagner proves to be effective within couple of weeks I would undoubtedly try to trade him to a contender to try to restock the farm system.
I’d trade him and Delgado. If both are going to be type a or b free agents, it’d be too risky to offer arbitration in case they accept. If we trade them, we can get a few good AA prospects.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
SACH, WISE SHORT TERM; BUT VERY NEARSIGHTED SINCE THE 1B F/A POOL IS EXTREMLY SHALLOW & WITHOUT A BOPPER IN #4 WE’VE CONSISTANTLY PROVEN TO COME UP SHORT. BOTH BELTRAN & WRIGHT NEED TO BRACKET THUNDER IN THE LINEUP. POERSONALLY, I CROSS MY FINGERS, HOPE TO KEEP DELGADO ON THE RELATIVLY CHEAP & DEAL WAGS HOPING TO SNAG A 1B OR 2B TOP PROSPECT IN AA OR AAA, PERHAPS ONE CLOSE TO RULE 5 CONSIDERATION? HERE’S YR 1B ‘10 FREE AGENT POOL:
Player Club
First Basemen
Russell Branyan SEA
Carlos Delgado NYM
Jason Giambi * OAK
Ross Gload * FLA
Aubrey Huff BAL
Nick Johnson FLA
Adam LaRoche ATL
Robb Quinlan LAA
Matt Stairs PHI
Mike Sweeney SEA
Jim Thome CHW
Chad Tracy ARZ
SORRY; BUT MURPH IS NOT AN ANSWER AS MUCH AS HE IS A HUGE QUESTION SAME AS NICK EVANS.
Thank you to both James and Sach for the corrections. If Wagner is not traded before August 31, the Mets should offer him a salary arbitration amount that they know he would decline. Then they would still get the two draft picks. Not offering him anything would result in no draft pick compensation.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind if the Mets kept him for 2010. Basically, they’d retain him for $7 million because it would cost them $1 million to wave goodbye and his option is for $8 million. If something happens to K-Rod next year, would you want the Mets to go with unproven closers like they did in 2008? They could insert Wags into the closer’s role and not skip a beat.
The worst case scenario would be to let him go without offering him salary arbitration. If that should happen, then Omar should definitely go, if he’s not already gone by the time the arbitration decision is made.
Ed,
The Mets would be beyond foolish to offer Billy arbitration. He would likely be awarded a similar salary (maybe a bit lower) to his current one. Paying Billy any more than a couple million next season would be ludicrous. There is almost no chance they offer him arbitration and with good reason.
Hey did anyone hear about Bobby Valentine coming back to manage Major League Baseball? My dad was telling me about it. I would love to see him come back and manage the Mets. What a class guy he was! Love Bobby V.!
U LIKELY LOVED THE CLASSLESS DISGUISE SITUATION, TOO! BOBBY V. IS “THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BASEBALL EXPERT” IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE THAT JUST ASK HIM!
I DON’T GET IT. WHAT HAS HE EVER WON IN MLB? I UNDERSTAND WHY THE PRESS LOVES HIM; BUT THE FANS? I DON’T UNDERSTAND UNLESS YOU WERE IN DIAPERS IN 2000 & HEARD ROMANTICIZIED STORIES? WITHOUT OLERUD @ 1B THAT INFIELD IS AVG AT BEST. CAN YOU JUST SEE EITHER MURPHY OR DELGADO PLAYING 1B THE BOBBYV WAY? CAN YOU SAY SITTING @ FLD LEVEL BEHIND 1B REQUIRES SPEC INSURANCE RIDER? WHAT DIFFERENCE IS BOBBY GOING TO MAKE? HIS PERSONALITY ALONE OVERSHADOWS ANY HOMEGROWN CLUBHOUSE LEADERSHIP. DON’T YOU REMEMBER THE SAME RUDDERLESS ARTICLES ABOUT LACK OF LEADERSHIP EXHUDED BY OLERRUD OR PIAZZA? AS A PLAYER HE WAS A 1 TRICK PONY,SPEED, BROKE HIS LEG, BECAME .260 HITTER.
Since he has value if he’s in any way recovered, they might just trade him and get what they can. I bet any team in contention would jump at the chance to trade for Wagner.
I’m so bummed about this team right now….we have sunk to be as bad as Washington, where you expect to lose almost every day.
The way this team is going, the Mets have to hang on to every single players who has star qualities. If Billy is truly recovered from his surgery, they should keep him. With all the uncertainties hanging over Putz and now KRod, we need to keep Billy on the team.
why do we need to keep billy? paying 8 mil for a reliver is ridiculous, so after saying that i wouldnt be suprised if the mets do that
Well we have to see how good he is. If he is as good, or better than the guys we have now I say keep him for next year. If K-Rod keeps acting weird then we could use Billy for those close games and we could ALWAYS use another dependable arm in the bullpen. We coudl trade Putz as part of a nice deal in the off-season.