Wag the Dog

Billy Wagner today OKed a trade from the Mets to the Red Sox. It was previously thought that he wouldn't accept the trade because even though the Red Sox were willing to decline their team option for next year, they wouldn't agree to not extend him arbitration.

Basically Waggles wanted to be a free agent as soon as possible so he can rack up as many saves as possible before he retires. Playing for the Mets or the Red Sox doesn't give him opportunities to close, so he'd rather this year end as soon as possible and become a free agent.

That was until today. He woke up this morning and decided he would like to play for a contender.

I was thinking, usually it's the other way around, isn't it? Guys say they don't care about personal accomplishments and would rather have the opportunity to play for a championship (Wagner has never been to the World Series)

Wagner was the other way around until today, but even if he hadn't accepted the trade to the Red Sox I wouldn't have blamed him.

Think about it. Just because you get traded to a team that hasn't been eliminated from postseason contention doesn't mean you're going to win a title. In fact, even if you get traded to a team that is IN the playoffs, that doesn't remotely mean you're going to win a title. Even if you're traded to one of the two World Series teams, there's no guarantee you're going to win the title.

If I was Billy Wagner, would I sacrifice the chance to get up the saves list for the outside chance of maybe winning a championship? Maybe not.

Billy Wagner is in a position to make a push for the Hall of Fame. If he can get 25 saves for three more years, he will be fourth on the all time saves list behind Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, and Lee Smith - two guys who will be in the HOF and one guy who somewhat has a case. Not to mention that he'll be the saves leader for lefties, which will bolster his chances that much more.

Sometimes you have to weigh the odds and set your priorities. In the case of Billy Wagner, winning a championship and racking up 70 or so more saves both help your chances of getting into the HOF, but if you have to pick one, I think it's a no-brainer.

Besides, the Red Sox aren't going to be playing mid-October baseball anyway.