Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado and The Mets Offseason

(Note to readers: Today we have a double dose of Billy Wagner content for you. The first post, by Sippy Momo, begins immediately after this note. The second, by A Friend of Mr. Glass', can be found immediately after the end of this post, entitled "Closing the Book on 15 Years of Futility".

We hope you enjoy.)

So yesterday we got our guy...Billy f'ing Wagner. The showstopper. I smiled.

Immediately I received 12 e-mails. As you all know, most of my friendships revolve around the Mets. So as you may guess, there were a lot of happy friends of the Sip. Like with Delgado, I wanted to write some things that I love about the deal, some things I like, and of course (you know me), some things I don't like about the deal. For those of you who just went into hysterics, I'll assure you at the outset that I am a hell of a lot more satisfied with this deal than I was with the Delgado deal (see last Wednesday's post).

Things I love

1. This guy has been a top 3 closer in baseball for as long as I can remember. As AFOMG wrote below (see the post immediately beneath this one), we've just never had one of those.

I always hated John Franco. I loved him because he was a Met and bled orange and blue, but I hated the fact that his out pitch was an 81 mph changeup out of the strike zone. Also, the one big pitch he ever made, striking out Barry Bonds in the '00 NLDS, was a ball.

(Editor's Note: Not to get off topic, but as far as I'm concerned, the fact that John Franco was allowed to pitch to Barry Bonds with the game on the line may be the surest proof that Bonds was a completely different player as recently as 5 years ago. A pre-steroids player. The following season, Bonds became what we know him as today. That Franco-Bonds showdown is to me the surest proof that Bonds is a juicer.)

I hated Armando Benitez. As anyone who's seen the Mets can tell you, this guy was the greatest closer ever in games against the Milwaukee Brewers. But when it came to facing the Braves and the Bombers, Chris Berman's patented WHOOP!!! comes to mind.

I'll share a brief story with you about Armando and the original Momo, just because, heck, I think it's a great story.

So it's my sophomore year of college, the fall of 2001. In mid-August, I am sitting at Yankees 2000's restaurant sponsor and beloved second home of the Sip, Chili's, talking shop with some pals and some lovely underclassmen.

I get a call from my cousin, he confirms my suspicion, so we go for it.

$50 at 3500:1 on the Mets to make the World Series.

I fast forward to mid-September, the Mets sit 4 games back w/ 10 games to go and a weekend series against the first place Braves on the immediate horizon. We win 2 of those games and I have a shot at the playoffs. A sweep and we might be there. Bes tof all, I can hedge my bet and take home at least 70G's.

I'm sitting there with my house mate, a fellow New Yorker who is known in the world of journalism as "Robby X". A flamethrower in his prime from the mean streets of New York, Robby was also a die hard Mets fan and an acquaintance of my oldest friend and infamous jinx, BM.

So we get to the 9th up 4-1, and in comes Armando. The sweet sounds of Latin music reverberate in the background. It's my cell phone ringing in the other room. I look at X. He looks at me. We both know.

BM is calling. All hope for the Mets is lost.

Armando, of course, goes on to blow that save, to Brian Jordan nonetheless. That is just what he did in those spots. I hate him.

We go into the other room to check the machine: "SM, you bitch. The Mets are going to the World Series, suck my..."

175G's down the toilet. And I owe it all to Armando and the jinx.

And then there was Braden Looper. Every Mets fan had a clever nickname for him.

My favorites were:

1. The pooper
2. Blooper
3. Guy who made the most awkward face ever before delivering 94 mph 2 seamer directly down the middle

Poops was a good guy, with a great baseball background - I was a big time Wichita St. fan in its heyday.

But Wichita St. or no Wichita St., we all know this guy needed to go.

So today we have Billy Wagner and for the first time we have a gem holding down the back end of the bullpen. At last we have a guy you can count on to slam the door, to preserve those wins for Tommy the Spy and Pedro. For that I am thrilled.

2. The Mets are the talk of the town.

There is no Randy Johnson to counter our Beltran. No Godzilla to counter our Benedict Glavine. The Yankees, for the first time in a long time are stuck with no prospects and a luxury tax that is finally coming to bite them.

It's nice to be on top.

3. As I've said before and will say again, I love seeing my friends happy. I love hearing from Willie B. I love the listserve I am on with many people I am only vaguely acquainted with. But everyone is talking about the Mets. Everyone is fired up for '06. That is awesome.

4. I love the SportsCenter clips of Wagner. They have one of him striking out Chipper and Chipper just looking stupified. You dont see many of those in Armando highlights.

Things I like about the Deal.

1. Market Value

I'll give Omar Minaya credit in his ability to close deals. He has gotten all his targets. But as I will write tommorow, he has gotten the majority of his guys by overpaying.

If this deal was made 2 weeks ago, I would have said Minaya was, again, overpaying.

However, after the BJ Ryan deal (5 years, $47 mil) the market for closers was set. I thought the Mets would have to throw 4 and 48 for Wagner but they did not.

Omar finally paid the market for his guy, which is good.

2. The New Mets are not the New Yankees

Many are skeptical about this one, or uncomfortable at least about the seeming similarities between our beloved Mets and our despised Yankees. I'll admit it, to some extent I'm one of them.

But how fair is it to label us a Yankee clone? Have we really spent as recklessly as our crosstown foes? Looking at the numbers, you'll see that the Mets have shed $33 mil from last year's payroll with the likes of the Monster, Cameron, Poops and Dougy and have so far taken on $25 mil with Delgado, Wagner and Nady.

Player movement is part of baseball as we all know.

The difference between us and the Yankees is twofold. A. We aren't talking about earning our pinstripes or about how Billy Wagner is a true Met... I'm not even sure what that would mean. B. We are not assholes. We do not bring on players and tell them to cut their hair or not be a hick and we do not require our players to be perfect. They are ballplayers not politicians.

3. Addition by subtraction

We got the Phillies guy so, clearly, the Phillies lost their guy. This is huge. The Phils are a really good team that people are forgetting about. They were a game away from the playoffs last year and were young.

I think this is really huge for us.

Things I don't like about this deal

1. I'm not sure where to put this one. Billy Wagner apparently enters the game to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, the same song as Mariano Rivera.

Sadly, "Enter Sandman" was one of my favorite songs growing up. It was the song my 13 year old basketball team at camp entered the gym to. It is an awesome song.

Then Mo Rivera came alogn and took it. The freaks and geeks from section 39 got hardons because of it, and it all of a sudden lost some value to me.

I'm curious to see how it plays out April 4th at Shea.

2. Skeptical of Wagner in many ways

A. This guy hasnt pitched in too many big games.

B. 2 of his 3 losses last year came to the Astros, in the pennant race, in September, in must-win games for the Phillies.

When this guy blows his first save to the Braves or Yankees, hysteria is going to break loose, the papers will kill him and who knows what will happen to him then.

I'm skeptical, so just be wary, this guy isn't god.

C. He's 5'10, 170 and 34 years old. Can his body really last? Will he be throwing 99 mph in '07 or will that slowly drop to 96,95,94...

D. There has been a lot written about a significant drop in velocity when he pitches on the second day of back to backers. Again, something I need to see.

Now I'm sure Willie B is going to respond about how negative I am, but truth is, with this one, I am happy. For me, I have always been a cynic. The second a player puts on a Mets jersey they go from being a hero to a goat until they prove otherwise.

That is why Mike Piazza was so perfect. Here was a guy who came in with all the expectations in the world, and he managed to play up to them.

Now that Wagner and Delgado are Mets, I need to see it out of them. That is all, Will.

All in all, I love the move and I am fired up about this whole thing. Jdubs asked me about a week ago if I caught the Elisha Cuthbert smash, "The Girl Next Door". The answer to that question is yes, roughly 15 times.

I see a lot of Billy Wagner in Danielle (Cuthbert's character). The guy has it all. In the film, Danielle is lights out, perfect, except for one fatal flaw. That kid she likes is too much of a tool, that it is just not believable. People forget about that fact because of everything else she brings to the movie.

My only concern, is that like Danielle, BW has all the stuff in the world, a 100 mph fastball, a nasty slider, but is missing something. He is coming to New York, a place where no player can shine brighter or sink lower.

In Will's eyes the player will always shine.

In my eyes, we will have to wait and see next year in NY.

But for now, lets break out the Champagne glasses. "We're players now boys, Salude!!!"

SM

As always though, I am skeptical.