ESPN and Buster Olney have a little more information about why Billy Wagner changed his mind today and waived his no-trade clause to go to the Red Sox.
Category: Trades
Billy Wagner Traded To Red Sox
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After a lot of back and forth over the last few days about what conditions were required for Billy Wagner to waive his full no-trade clause, the Mets and Red Sox finally finished the deal right before the deadline today. The Mets will receive two minor league players in return for Wagner.
Wagner did fly with the team to Miami last night, so he’ll be turning around and heading to Boston where the Red Sox are playing the White Sox.
The reports were that Wagner wanted the Red Sox to guarantee that they wouldn’t pick up his $8 million option for next season and wouldn’t offer him salary arbitration either.
We don’t know all the details of the trade yet. More updates soon.
Video: Billy Wagner Rejecting Trade To Red Sox
ESPN video on Billy Wagner making the decision to reject a trade to the Red Sox and his response to Jonathan Papelbon‘s comments about him.
Mets News Aug. 25, 2009: Wagner, Sheffield, Minaya, Santana
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For a team near the bottom of the National League standings, the Mets sure have a lot going on right now. You would think that they would be playing out the string and cruising into 2010. Did you know? There are only five teams in the NL with a worse winning percentage than the Mets; Nationals, Pirates, Reds, D-Backs, and Padres.
Here’s the news:
- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes that Billy Wagner will exercise his no-trade clause to block a move to the Red Sox. The deal must be completed by 1pm today.
- Adam Bernacchio of The Ghost of Moonlight Graham writes about how several Mets players told the media that they expect Johan Santana to have season-ending elbow surgery
- Nick Kapur of Ump Bump writes about how the Mets have mismanaged Johan Santana by allowing him to pitch injured for the last two months
- Danny Knobler of CBS Sports writes about Gary Sheffield’s future. He wants to play next year and beyond in his pursuit of 3,000 hits. Sheffield needs 311 more hits to reach 3,000.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com writes about Fred Wilpon’s vote of confidence for Omar Minaya and the Billy Wagner trade to the Red Sox scenario
- Jon Boise of AOL Fanhouse writes that the Mets injuries this year may be evidence that God hates the Mets
- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes that Omar Minaya will have a difficult time turning things around in 2010
Mets-Red Sox Billy Wagner Trade Hits Snag
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The major news organizations are reporting that Mets closer Billy Wagner has some demands of the Red Sox before he’ll waive his no-trade clause to accept a deal sending him to Boston. He wants the Sox to guarantee that they won’t pick up his $8 million option for next season and that they won’t offer him contract arbitration.
If the Sox won’t agree to Wagner’s demands, the Mets could still let Wagner go without receiving any compensation except for not having to pay Wagner. The Mets should just let him go if they can’t work through these issues. Omar Minaya shouldn’t even have to think for a second about that.
That punk, Jonathan Papelbon, had some comments for WEEI about Wagner too. From ESPN:
“What has he done? Has he pitched this year?” Jonathan Papelbon told WEEI.com. “Is he ready to pitch or is he not? … I think our bullpen is good where we’re at right now. Don’t get me wrong. But I guess you could always make it better. It’s kind of like the [Eric] Gagne thing, I guess.”
Video: Rosenthal On Billy Wagner Trade
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has a video posted about the Mets options for trading Billy Wagner. He mentions that they may even hold onto him, pick up his option for next year, then trade him. What he doesn’t mention is that the Mets could shoot themselves in the foot by doing that if Wagner exercises his full no-trade clause. Then the Mets are stuck with him next year at $8 million.
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Gary Sheffield Unhappy With Mets; No Surprise
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It was bound to happen at some point this season and now it has. Gary Sheffield isn’t happy with the Mets and even asked out of the lineup on Thursday night. He did play Friday but got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes and it looked like it was on purpose.
For all the talk of Sheffield being a team player when they signed him in April, that’s over now. He wants out or he wants a contract extension and neither is going to happen. The reports were that the Giants claimed Sheffield on waivers but they couldn’t work out a trade that was satisfactory to the Mets. So the Mets pulled him off waivers and have to keep him for the rest of the season.
Sheffield was surprised that he had to learn about this development through media reports and not Omar Minaya. He told reporters after Friday’s game that he was confused why the Mets wouldn’t let him go to play for a contender in San Francisco.
The Mets only have to deal with this for nine more games to finish out the month of August. Then they can release Sheffield after September 1 so he wouldn’t be eligible for another team’s postseason roster. If he continues to make a nuisance of himself, that’s exactly what they should do.
The Mets Report 