Comments on: Billy Wagner Returns

By: XslyderX

XslyderX — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:33:55 +0000

Wagner may be 38, but last year was going to be one of his best when he got injured. He had a great first half. Barring ijuries, he could be as good as ever.

By: Max

Max — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:15:58 +0000

Is that true? I think most players that accept Arb are 3-5 service year guys and that may be true for them, but what about for would-be free agents whose pervious contract wasn’t determined through Arb or an Arb based negotiation? Those guys didn’t used to accept Arb that often so I don’t know how much of a precedent there is.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:18:19 +0000

I think 19 out of 20 people who post here would instantly say Wagner > K-Rod.

Look at those WHIPs. His “worst” year since his blah 2000 was the 1.127 WHIP he posted in 2007. Since 2000 his WHIP is .953 (!!!!!!) and his K/BB is 4.49. Don’t care if he’s 38, that’s really good.

K-Rod’s FB doesn’t seem THAT much slower than it used to be, but a drop from 94.8 to 92.7 is iffy. From July 18th on, though, he’s rocking a 1.703 WHIP, which is brutal.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:40:33 +0000

Speaking of WAR, K-Rod has cracked 2 WAR JUST once in the past 3 seasons, and that was in 2007. He’s only 27, and is showing every sign of decline. Wagner has 385 career saves, a low 2.40 career ERA, and strikes out almost 12 guys per 9 innings for his career. See how meaningless these numbers can be?

K-Rod’s ERA is well over 3 now, and his fastball doesn’t have the life it used to. Look at his WHIP over the past 3 seasons: 1.25, 1.29, and this year 1.30. Does that look like an elite closer to you?

Billy Wagner’s career WHIP destroys K-Rod at 1.01… 38 or not, he has something to prove, and K-Rod is far more overpaid than Wagner at THIS point.

By: Ed Nelson

Ed Nelson — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Still. Remember when Santana was just untouchable…

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:17:30 +0000

The arbitrator would decide these things after Wagner accepted, but precedent is that players always get a raise over their previous year’s salary, so arb really isn’t an option for the Mets here.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:05:25 +0000

Because the Mets have no quality offensive players

By: LeeTro

LeeTro — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:30:37 +0000

I’m just amazed how my Braves won a game where the 3 opposing pitchers were Johan, Billy, and K-Rod.

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:02:57 +0000

I question how long he can maintain his velocity before he hits some type of dead arm period, and once he reaches that point, how long will it take for him to regain it.

By: Max

Max — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:47:55 +0000

The real question from the Mets perspective when considering whether to trade him is how much would he be likely to get in arbitration.
-At last count he was still qualified as a type A free agent (somehow)
-He wants to close next year, something the Mets can’t offer

So if the arbitration number is low enough, it seems worth the risk for the Mets to keep him, buy out his option and offer arbitration, confident that Wagner will decline it and possibly net them 2 draft picks.

Of course if the arbitrator decides he’s worth upwards of $8M (who knows how these things work), Wagner may accept arbitration, in essence calling the Mets’ bluff and forcing their hand into either dropping him before the season starts or making a bad trade in ’10 and probably having to eat a large chunk of his salary.

A lot of ways this could go.