Billy Wagner Changes His Mind

Billy Wagner did decide to waive his no trade clause in the end and join the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox cannot pick up his option for $8 million, but they can offer him salary arbitration (which could net up to two draft selections). Going to the Mets will be two players to be named later, and the Red Sox will have to give $1 million to Wagner as part of his contract buyout.

Wagner's addition adds a veteran presence to the 'pen, although he will be used sparingly at first after coming off of Tommy John surgery. This trade has a few ripple affects. First, the Sox will most certainly cut Enrique Gonzalez from the 25-man roster to make room for Wags meaning the team will be without a true long-man (Delcarmen and Ramirez being the most stretched out). However, the team will try and buy some time until next Tuesday (September 1st) when rosters expand. So until then, the Sox will piece together games with a few pitchers they do not want to work so hard (Wagner, Saito, Bard). The long-man problem would not be too big an issue if the Sox were to make it to the playoffs because the four-man rotation would allow the club to put a starter (Buchholz, Tazawa, etc.) in the bullpen. The other affect of this trade is the Red Sox confidence in Daniel Bard as the season wears on. In Bard's last eight outings, he has allowed nine earned runs over seven innings pitched seeing his ERA rise from 2.25 to 3.76. Wagner gives the Red Sox another quality option late in the game to pair with Oki. Wagner will be no threat to Papelbon for saves, so Paps shouldn't be talking to much about not wanting to add the hard-throwing left.