Red Sox Acquire Billy Wagner

Why are the Sox so hopeful about picking up a pitcher that doesn't want to pitch?

nevermind.. article says 1:30

yeah i rather take the picks rather than dump the salary and get back a fringe prospect..

hopefully he gets rid of his stupid condition about not offering him arbitration... that way the mets might be able to get something quality back from the sox.

another update from lennon (mets beat-writer), per twitter:

"Announcement coming shortly on Wagner. Looks like the trade to Boston is going to happen. #Mets."

Unless SD moves Heath Bell, he won't be a Padre.

Washington on the other hand could definitely be a contender.

If only the conversation between Omar and Billy went like this:

Dear Billy, if you don't go, not only will we pick up your option, we'll also use the entire month of September to bury you deeper than Jimmy Hoffa in the bullpen.

*crickets....*

"Dear Billy, if you don't go, not only will we pick up your option, we'll also use the entire month of September to bury you deeper than Jimmy Hoffa in the bullpen."

Yes, because lose lose situations are always good for all parties involved. What is also fun is burying your best bullpen arm.

Why would Wagner go to the Red Sox if he wants to win?

I expected someone to "tweet" this by now.

Wagner is gonna be the marlins or nats closer next year. So he'll be back in the NL east.

Have to admit this guy is really nasty on lefties.

"Have to admit this guy is really nasty on lefties."

Watching him here in NY over the past few years has been a pleasure. All the times he gave you a headache when he faced a semi-decent team. Red Sox making another boneheaded move.

We're not evaluating the trade, we're evaluating the acquisition. Wagner is a choke artist.

The Sox needed a hard throwing lefty for their BP, and now they have one. Nice pickup. Will be interesting to see who the Mets got from this.

dont cry nrmax.

yep, pavano sucks. Wanger = choke.

Bad move. The Sox don't need a stupid, selfish prima donna like Wagner.

He isn't motivated to win a championship. And he isn't smart enough to keep his selfish remarks to himself.

You can run the numbers all you want, but you don't win championships with guys who are not committed to winning.

He'll make excuses. He'll go 90%. This move is a mistake.

There's a Psychology of Achievement, and there's a Psychology of Stupidity. Wagner's a fully paid of member of the selfish, dumb jock association...

turnthe2 - choke artist. I don't need to look at numbers seeing mets fans cry watching him over the years. Now lets see how he handles the AL, coming off an injury. You're going to see some choking. And soon.

This is the worst possible deal the Mets could've made. What, now the Mets are a mid-market team looking to save money? Wagner may not be great for the Red Sox, but Theo will send srubs to the Mets so this trade will be a wash. Let's go Rockies!

And the Red Sox will get draft picks after they decline his arbitration. They will replace whatever scrubs they send to the Mets with a compensatory draft pick. Unreal.

Russell....you obviously DO need to look at his numbers. While with the Mets, his saves/chances are the following:

40/45 - 89% converted
34/39 - 87%
27/34 - 79%

Pretty damn good. Over that time just about equal to the guy who fears his job is going to be stolen away...

turnthe2 - I sat around and listened to the "smartest baseball fans in the world" cite the genius of John Smoltz and Brad Penny signings. Look at their numbers; superb.

Wagner will make an impact all-right... he has a big mouth, already has exchanged grievances with Papsmear... why am I even arguing. You're probably one of the "Smoltz seals the AL East race" guys...

Ugh

Maybe i am overly optomistic but I could see at least one of Luis Exposito and Stephen Fife. Ranked 16th and 17th respectively in the Sox prospects list. Both look like decent big league ballplayers which is a testament to the depth of the Red Sox farm system.

He'll probably sign with the Cards, why not everyone one who has done bad in Boston signs there and turns thier career around.

Russell: You might be the most ignorant fool I've ever seen post on this website (and that's saying quite a bit).
If Wagner is healthy, he is a top 5-10 reliever in the MLB. Throw in the fact that he's probably the best left-handed reliever in the game, adding versatility to Boston's pen, and you have a great pickup by Theo and Co.
As for his performance with the Mets: he was superb. In fact, his injury is probably the only reason the Mets missed the playoffs last year. Hell, it might be the only reason the Mets didn't win the East in 2008 (and we all know what happened with the 2008 NL East Champs).
So; in short, you, Russell are dumb! But thanks for giving me a reason to take a few minutes off from work to point out your ineptitude.

Well hes better than Enrique Gonzalez... so the Sox BP just improved.

Fire Minaya. He is a bum, he can't think of anything, but all he does is get latin players. He stinks and please fire him. He can't get a good deal done with Wagner. He shuld have had offered arb and gotten 2 compensatin picks. But this guy is dumb and wants more latin players on the team.

Russell has no rebutle skills

Newsflash:

MLBTR to soon require IQ test prior to being allowed posting ability on the site.

Nice knowing a bunch of you.

turnthe2 - please post once. I have no intention reading the same thing twice, especially after being spelled incorrectly.

It is no secret I am not a Mets or a RSox fan. I don't believe racism in management or fan base should be something to aspire to...

Russy, bro GET A LIFE.

once again a ny mets screw up eat the 1 mill and take the draft picks instead well get two players to be named later the equivlant of wilson valdez this team just doesnt have a clue but the redsox will let him walk and get 2 better players then what there gonna give up this sh!t is frustrating bring back bobby V

wagner and papelpon are perfect for each other they got the two biggest mouths in the league should be interesting

Russell, that second comment of your last post was idiotic. Stop reading postings on the Onion.....

He did it with the Mets too. It was the situation where he threw (I believe) Delgado and a couple others under the bus for not talking to the media after their horrible play. He was like on the DL or something, and was complaining that he, a guy not even playing, was the only guy that would actually talk to the media. Or something like that at least. Maybe a Mets fan can fill it in more.
Posted by: SuzysMan | August 25, 2009 at 02:01 PM

I think it was a game the bullpen blew, or because he was saying don't talk to me about it, I wasn't even involved in the game. He wasn't hurt at that point

DWB, I doubt his attitude will cost the Sox a playoff spot unless he puts itching powder in Papelbon's jock.

Posted by: Jeremy | August 25, 2009 at 01:54 PM

Listening to Papelbon, this might have already happened,

hey stl he wants to close he aint doing that for the mets with k rod there so just worry about your hero albert being on the list cant wait for that to come out

LMAO....are you that big of a loser? I don't care what he says it's still about money....and if he is offered arb there is ALWAYS a chance he will take it...and what if you keep him and he sucks the rest of the year? Then no one else is going to want him to close then do you think he would accept? YES

soxfreak13: Teams would not offer arbitration because they would be scared he would accept and be awarded over 10 million for next season....now if your a team that already has a closer do you really want to take that chance and end up with a $10-12 million dollar closer that you don't need. It's realy that simple when you get used to it

"He was negotiating to get what he wanted, big deal."

There's a right way and a wrong way to negotiate. The right way leaves the impression that you are a competitor, a team player who will do whatever it takes to win. Wagner took the wrong path.

It's not the first time he's done that. Pat Burrell called him a rat after Wagner threw his whole team (the Phillies in '05) under the bus and said they weren't good enough to make the playoffs. Wagner went to the Mets in the off-season and the Phillies subsequently won a world series without him.

He has a history of being stupid and selfish. He'll be a Red Sox player for a short time, and we'll get two draft picks.

As long as he doesn't get into a fistfight with Papelbon it's all good.

Also, Wagner is 38, the Red Sox wouldn't trade Papelbon and keep a guy knocking on baseball death's door.

Fire Minaya. He is a bum, he can't think of anything, but all he does is get latin players. He stinks and please fire him. He can't get a good deal done with Wagner. He shuld have had offered arb and gotten 2 compensatin picks. But this guy is dumb and wants more latin players on the team.

Posted by: metsfan4 life | August 25, 2009 at 01:26 PM

--------------

Yeah, that's not a racist statement at all. That's as dumb as saying that Theo Epstein is racist because the majority of his players are white.

Wagner is only going to pitch once every three days and probably in controlled situations. The probability of him sucking is really small. So he will have confidence to close next year, and he won't want to stay with Boston next year. So, Boston will offer him arbitration and know he won't accept.

Posted by: Keep Swinging Frenchie | August 25, 2009 at 02:55 PM

ummm he has pitched a total of 2 innings since tommy john surgery....I don't think anyone is too confident in what they will be getting from Wagner the rest of the season

If Wagner looks strong, the Sox will offer him arbitration. If he doesn't impress, they will not. Its as simple as that.

The Red Sox are one of 2-3 teams that would take the risk of paying a middle reliever a lot of money.

You had better believe that the RS will be quietly feeling out what they can get for Papelbon this winter. When Youk and Pedroia signed team friendly contract extensions, papelbon made it clear that he wants to become a free agent and set a benchmark for closer contracts. Pap is an egomaniac. He believes himself to be God's gift to the ninth inning. Closers are overrated, and the RS have a number of relievers who could conceivably step into the role and be effective.

“He was negotiating to get what he wanted, big deal.”

Remember, these are his quotes from yesterday:

“Wagner cited concerns about how his career has affected his family, saying, "they've sacrificed enough.”
and
“I'm too old to set up. I don't want to go there and feel like I need to impress someone. That may not be good for them or for me.”

So he doesn’t want to put his family through stress of moving it sounds like, and he doesn’t want to set-up, and he doesn’t want to feel like he has to pitch well enough to impress anyone. Yet these things are negotiation ploys to get the Red Sox to agree to decline arbitration? It sounds more like a ploy to not take him on period, as he sounds like he doesn’t want to be there.

Omar...what the hell are you doing?

Nice job Theo giving away a future stud.

Good Move Omar...we get a decent prospect and get rid of Wagner opening more salray to pick up big FA's in the offseason...I like it!!

Carter is horrendous in the field, which is fine if you're an AL club looking for a DH, but....

addition:
pawsox carter: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=CF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=452080

other carter:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=1B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=474892

i hope the links work

What is Oakland's CC still doing in AA? He has no business being in that league.