NewsWagner may be open to arbitration offer
Reliever would consider chance to return to Boston in '10
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
11/11/09 1:28 PM EST
After a change of heart, Billy Wagner would indeed be open to an arbitration offer in order to return to the Red Sox next season, his agent told The Boston Herald on Tuesday."I just visited with Billy and his family the other day, and I can tell you this much: Billy thoroughly enjoyed his time in Boston," Bean Stringfellow said. "It was one of the best experiences he has ever had in baseball. So, does he rule out accepting arbitration? No, he doesn't."
As for the other side, Stringfellow added, "I fully anticipate [the Red Sox] offering him arbitration."
Wagner, 38 and coming off a four-year, $43 million deal, is a Type A free agent, meaning the Red Sox would get a first-round pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft -- or a second-round pick, if the signing team picks within the 1-15 selections -- and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds if the left-hander declines their arbitration offer.
"We would love to have Billy back in [a] non-closer's role," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein later told The Herald from the GM Meetings in Chicago on Wednesday.
Wagner waived his no-trade clause from the Mets and came to Boston in late August. The Red Sox then, as expected, declined their $8 million club option after Wagner, fresh off Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, sported a 1.98 ERA in 15 regular-season relief appearances in Boston.
Wagner, who made $10.5 million last year and is 15 saves away from 400 for his career, was expected to want to test the free-agent market to try to find a team he can be a full-time closer on -- something he can't do in Boston with Jonathan Papelbon in the back end of the bullpen.
But apparently that frame of mind has changed.
"One thing that's important to him is the chance to win a championship, and that's not a minor detail," Stringfellow told The Herald. "Based upon his experience in Boston and his desire to win, to say he has completely ruled it out, certainly he has not.
"Prior to meeting him the other day, if you had asked me would he accept arbitration, I would have said, '100 percent no.'"
Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
