Wagner Headed Elsewhere?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wagner has leverage because he has a no-trade clause in his contract.

[metirish]

Wagner has leverage because he has a no-trade clause in his contract.[/quote:3ne67kta]

Oh yeah that , still it sounds like he wants out and it's not like he nailed down 30 saves this season....

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, whatever his 'demands' might be, hopefully he'll give in a bit in order to get himself onto a contending team.

[duan]

Wagner�s hero�s welcome was dissonant.

Agree 100% with that. Fans are stoopid.

Same thing with the fans that gave Pedro a hero's welcome at today's game. WTF? He was a mediocre pitcher at best for the Mets and they didn't win anything of substance while he was here. Now he's on the Phillies and he gets roundly cheered?

Amazing.

[Centerfield]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090824&content_id=6589350&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

So the latest skinny is that Wagner wants the Sox to buy him out and not offer arbitration, and the Sox are hedging. He'd evidently take less money to be somebody's closer, but he doesn't want a potential type A label to kill his market value.

But theoretically the Mets could still allow him to be claimed? Do we know if that's true or not? Keep in mind that there are approximately 3.4 million reasons why getting nothing for him wouldn't actually mean getting nothing.

[soupcan]

We're not in competition with the Phillies[/quote:2rzc29jp]

We're not?

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

We're not in competition with the Phillies[/quote:1aqzu48f]

We're not?[/quote:1aqzu48f]

Well, not anymore for this season. Hopefully, the Mets can get healthy and retool for 2010, then we can give the Phillies the beating they deserve.

[ashie62]

OK, Wagner wants Mets to decline 2010 option before approving trade to Red Sox

Better be a helluva package or Billy gofuckyoursel fugly

[ashie62]

Wagner believes he will "remain a Mets" per CBS & Rotoworld

[metirish]

Wagner believes he will "remain a Mets" per CBS & Rotoworld

[Benjamin Grimm]

Why is (a) so outrageously unlikely?

It it worth spending $2.7 million in order to get two draft picks? I wouldn't think so.

I'd place him on the irrevocable waivers and try to save the $2.7 million. I assume that Wagner would still be able to reject the move, though? But on the chance that he'd get claimed by a team that he prefers to Boston, I'd give it a try.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, considering last week's common wisdom was that the Mets don't maximize the draft, it might be worth it to them. They're not just two picks, but two high picks.

[metirish]

It would not surprise me in the least if the Mets did offer that arbitration that the whole world thinks will be declined only for Wagner to accept it .

So my question is....for the Mets to offer arbitration would they do so with knowledge that Wagner would decline?....would they be in cahoots?

[Benjamin Grimm]

If Wagner accepts arbitration, his new contract won't have a no-trade attached, and he's not 5-and-10 yet, so the Mets could end up trading him to anyone who wanted to accept his contract.

That wouldn't be such a bad outcome, except that his contract might be so high that he couldn't be traded without the Mets adding in some cash.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Certainly people have worked in cahoots in the past, but i think there there are worse things than Wagner accepting arbitration.

Presumably, he'd still be dealable if he accepted it.

There's a degree of gambling in each postiive option.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

It would not surprise me in the least if the Mets did offer that arbitration that the whole world thinks will be declined only for Wagner to accept it .

So my question is....for the Mets to offer arbitration would they do so with knowledge that Wagner would decline?....would they be in cahoots?

[nymr83]

the wilpons have no reason to agree to that though.

is there anything in the CBA preventing Wilpon from paying Wagner to decline arbitration?

i'm picturing a scenario where Wagner wants to close, knows it won't happen here, but also knows he's worth more in the free agent market if there arent 2 draft picks attached to him, while the Wilpons dont want him to accept arbitration but want to offer it for the picks, so Wilpon agrees to throw Wagner a million bucks to decline arbitration... the wilpons get their draft picks and wagner gets money to offset the lower contract he'll (presumably) get.

[seawolf17]

That has to be collusion or something, right?

[smg58]

I see no harm in asking Wagner or Stringfellow if arbitration would be accepted if they offer it, and I see no point in pulling him back off waivers if the answer to that question is yes. Wagner's made it pretty clear that he'd take a little less money to be somebody's closer. However, a lot of type A's had to wait very deep into the offseason to get deals last year, and of that bunch only Manny got anything close to what he'd have gotten from an arbiter. Wagner knows he'd get less money from a team who has to surrender a first-round pick as well -- if I were a GM I'd have a hard time justifying giving up a first rounder for a guy I wouldn't sign for more than a year, unless I thought I was getting him for way less than he was worth.

[bmfc1]

Tweets say a trade announcement is coming.

[duan]

let me see if I can get the sequence right though;

we pay him $1 million to decline his option. We then offer him arbitration.
Now, if we offer him arbitration the minimum his salary can be is 20% less then his salary in 2009 (10.5 million). Which is 8.4 million.
So if he accepted arbitration he'd be getting a minimum of 9.4 million. Which is quite a bit more then his option, and to my mind quite a bit more then he's likely to get on the Free Agent market.

hmmmmmm

[Guest Edgy DC]

Predict what Boston is sending NOW!!!!

[Benjamin Grimm]

A vat of clam chowder!

[bmfc1]

Ted Williams' severed head.

Or Casey Kotchman.

[Guest Edgy DC]

You know, I might accept the Williams deal.

[metirish]

Ted Williams' severed head.

Or Casey Kotchman.[/quote:ya9o8lrk]


jeez , give me Ted's head on a platter NOW....


are we assuming that the trade is with Boston....

what are the tweets saying?

[Vic Sage]

i don't see Kotchman as an upgrade over Murphy.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd be more than happy with a AA player who's ranked among the top ten in the Boston organization.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

I don't see Kotchman as an upgrade over Ted Williams' severed head.

[Vic Sage]

if he's offered and accepts arbitration, is there any rule preventing him from being traded immediately thereafter? A 1-year closer for $8.5m is not a bad asset to have, for dealing purposes. Better yet, trade Frankie's deal and keep Wags.