Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Atlanta Braves have signed Billy Wagner to a one year $7 million deal with a vesting option for 2011 pending a physical. Billy Wagner was one of the premier relievers on the free agent market this off season. At 38 years old, he has show remarkable resiliency in coming back from Tommy John surgery posting a 1.98 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 26/8 K/BB ratio in 15 appearances. Wagner is slotted to take over the closing duties in Atlanta with the pending departure of free agents Mike Gonzalez and Raphael Soriano. The Boston Red Sox offered salary arbitration Tuesday to Wagner, a Type A free agent. If Wagner passes his physical, the Sox will receive the Braves’ first-round pick next season. Wagner ranks sixth on baseball’s career list with 385 saves.
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Huge gamble by the Braves. I don’t know how Wagner will hold up over an entire season after his surgery and age. Is Wagner really worth a 1st round pick at this point in his career? It’s no doubt he is an elite closer when healthy, but I think the Braves panicked due to the impending departures of Soriano and Gonzalez. This is a great example of a “low risk, high reward” type of signing, however, I feel the risk outweighs the reward in this scenario.
Ok Ryan, you just classifed the signing as “low risk high reward” and 4 words later you claim “the risk outweighs the reward.” Wagner is a potential HOFer and clearly of some value. Relenquishing a 1st round pick (which correct me if i am wrong, is sandwhiched between the 1st and 2nd rounds) is not a huge loss when a guy of wagner’s caliber is available. 1st round picks are not guarunteed to pan out and the Braves want to win now. The Braves have an obvious gap to fill and did it with little commitment. I think this is a good signing.
I agree with orphan. Unlike in basketball (where you basically need a lottery pick in order to get a talented player), you can find great baseball players drafted in every round. I am not a fan of a 38 yr old anything (unless its a good looking mom) so I would not have done the deal but giving up a 1st round pick isn’t a big deal.
Well said crowd pleaser…. well said!
Let me clarify what I meant by “low risk, high reward”. From the Braves point of view they view it as low risk because they are only committing to one year, so if he does get hurt its not like they are stuck with Wagner long term. In my opinion, even though it is a low risk signing, Wagner really isn’t worth 7 million dollars and the No. 20 pick in the draft at his age and arm problems. It’s like in fantasy baseball, you can get cheap saves from someone like David Aardsma this past year who costs peanuts. The problem with the Braves hasn’t been pitching. They need some bats, especially with Chipper on the verge of retirement.
While I agree that you can get cheap save in fantasy baseball in the real game it is very important to have that guy who can slam the door on the opponent. The Braves also don’t have luxury of having a bunch of guys sitting on the waiver wire either. Yes Wagner’s age and injury are an issue but it is worth the risk especially after his performance last year. I do agree with you Ryan that the Braves are in desperate need of some offense though.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Braves are close to signing Takaski Saito to set-up Wagner. Now this makes the Wagner signing a little more clear to me. This is a good insurance policy to Wagner, although, its interesting that Saito is aging with previous arm problems as well.