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…ugh…i just heard a bit of Kevin Burkhardt’s pre-taped interview with Billy Wagner, which will air for the first time tonight on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove…during the interview, wagner tells kevin that, as of today, the Phillies and 
Braves should be ranked higher than the Mets…
…it’s all about managing expectations, i guess…
…at any rate, true or not true, why say this out loud…look, i respect and appreciate billy’s honestly…but, seriously, does a closer in new york really need to draw even more attention to himself than he is already exposed to…if he intends to be this season’s lightning rod, for his sake, he better be lights-out successful…
To watch Burkhardt’s interview with Wagner, tune in to SNY’s Mets Hot Stove Report tonight at 6: 30 pm.
is that necessary?
I applaud Billy for speaking his mind… In an era when athletes are scared to death to say something that will get them in hot water it’s a breath of fresh air that Wagner is expressing his honest portrayal of where he thinks his team is… Guess he doesn’t agree with the powers that be who brought in Schneider and Church, and lost Lastings. Not to mention losing Glavine, and replacing him with nothing….. Furthermore the team is a year older, including Delgado…
Any chance we can get Joe Nathan to close and send Billy packing… probably getting some nice prospects in return?
Sounds like the kind of passion and honesty Paul LoDuca used to speak with…but he was from Brooklyn so we loved him. Doesn’t matter that he was breaking down in every aspect of the game and Billy Wagner is a top 5 closer. Not for nothing but shouldn’t your closer have a “I don’t care what people think of me” attitude about him? He’s being honest and screw you if you don’t like it. He can say wahtever he wants as long as he is getting 3 outs in the 9th inning…but the Mets need a starter who can give the bullpen rest so they can stay effective. Maybe this is what he is hinting at.
This comment sounds like the one made by our favorite Phillie last season. Jimmy Rollins,, when he said that the Phillies and NOT the Mets where the team to beat, and he was right :}
Can Billy be traded to minnesota also in the package with an additional prospect besides the one being mentioned in return for Santana, and Joe Nathan. He obviously is saying all the right things to be traded since he seems to be uncomfortable in shea. Billy Wagner needs to really shut the f++++k up
i agree RD, no matter how much some people may not like him hes completely right SO FAR. if we get santana everything changes but if not like you said we lose glavine and replace him with nothing.
Not saying he is wrong at all, but sometimes these sort of statements hurt the team chemistry.
what does chemistry have to do with winning a baseball game?
Team sports has everything to do with chemistry in order to winning a [baseball] game.
Are you seriously kidding me dannyguira? Since you came up with the stupid idea to send Billy in the package who do you propose is going to be our best closer in the bull pen and they are going to throw like Billy does. He doesn’t need to shut up he is like any other American he has freedom of speech! The only person that needs to shut up is you!
Metsgirl, can you read? He said bring back Nathan in the deal. Also, since this is the country of free speech, shouldn’t he be allowed to speak his mind?
Yea, but he’s right. I’d almost rather he be an a$$h0le then give the cliche responses of a DWright.
You “team chemistry” guys need to relax. None of that crap matters except in extreme cases. It is about the numbers and right now the numbers say the Met’s are not number 1.
Think of it this way, maybe his statement will help motivate Minaya to make the move we all know is necessary. Bedard is about to go to Seattle, so they had better pony up F-Mart. Billy is no fool.
-”And yet it moves.”
Well, maybe he’s underselling by way of motivation. Trying to say they need to work out, take nothing for granted, etc. They certainly don’t need to go into the season thinking they deserve anything.
I agree 100%. What was he supposed to say?
“We’re a championship caliber ballclub right now.” (echoes of the underachieving Mets FO) “We’re twice the team Atlanta and Philadelphia are.”
If he did that, we’d probably have a collapse even BIGGER than last years.
please billy, no more talking. just throw gas and keep quiet.
See, the so-called collapse will have lingering effects. The close for crissakes has diminished confidence! The team needs a santana, um shot, in the arm!
Yeah, and if the loud mouth redneck hadn’t blown 4 saves in August and September, there would be no collapse talk to begin with.
He chokes in too many big spots to be running his mouth so much.
I wish they had an alternative to be closer, because I’d really love to see this prick off the team. Too bad they don’t. So I can only hope he shuts up.
You can always count on Wagner to put your confidence in the dumpster and set it on fire! Thanks!
o i should’ve said “whatever confidence we have left”
Met fans seem to need a shot of reality!
We can debate all day about whether or not Wagner should have said something like that publicly (I don’t think he should have), but he happens to be correct in his assessment.
And Jimmy Rollins didn’t oversell anything last year. He was correct in his assessment and he backed up everything he had to say. That’s why he’s the MVP, that’s why the Phillies are the reigning division champs, and that’s why the Mets are as frustrating as they’ve ever been to be a fan of – and that’s REALLY saying something.
let’s hope Billy doesn’t back up what he has to say by sucking.
the phillies got ridiculously lucky. can we stop giving them so much credit? jesus christ.
There was no “luck” involved- they HAMMERED the Mutts 8 straight games.
you’re not even a mets fan. get off here, loser.
I don’t know about third best, but the Phils did finish on top (regardless of if they “won” it or the Mets “lost” it) and no team has made such a significant move (yet) to unseat them as division champs.
You can only hope that Wagner is using the media to pressure Omar into getting Santana. Wagner doesnt have that many years left to win a championship I’m sure he’d rather win now than care if the Mets are built better for the future.
Of course Wags could just be telling the truth…which is never acceptable.
Me thinks someone is grumpy that Paul and Tommy aren’t on the team anymore.
This guy burns bridges everywhere he goes. Does he ever shut up?
If Wagner doesn’t want to be boo-ed out of NY the way he was boo-ed out of Philly, he should watch what he says. You can’t judge anything right now. It’s January.
Pitchers and catchers report in less than 3 weeks – I think you can start judging a little bit.
Furthermore, if what’s been reported is true and the Santana issue gets resolved within the next week or so, you can start judging a whole lot more.
well he said the same kinds of things after we lost Glavine, right? We knew at that point, that he didnt know how to keep his mouth shut. Maybe SNY, should have thought twice about interviewing him.
until I see it in context I will give him the benefit of the dumb athlete, he may have meant it as a means of being motivated to not take anything for granted.
why is everyone getting on the guy for speaking the truth?
people forget we had the biggest collapse in sports history and our biggest off seson move is getting chuch, hell he wont even have a better year the green. i mean in all honesty we Need a santana, and so what if we give up f-mart, we have beltran in center for the next 4-5 years.
GO FINISH IT OMAR, GET SANTANA IN ORANGE AND BLUE !
Lightning, There is no “e” in lightning. It is not the same as shortening, which does have an “e.” L-I-G-H-T-N-I-N-G.
maybe Matt was just trying to LIGHTEN the mood? But nice catch and I guess it hit a nerve as the post has now been corrected. Well done Tidwater, I mean Tidewater.
I’m glad it’s been changed! That never seems to work!
You hav mor powr than you know, I just hop you’ll us it for good not vil.
He’s a very good closer. But he likes his white players (cf. Lastings Milledge). And now he doesn’t like his team.
He’s not too bright.
By this logic, he should like the Mets chances better this year than last, they got rid of a black guy in Milledge and replaced him with a white guy in Church. Added a white reliever in Wise.
Its crazy how someone makes any kind of comment and its looked at only through the spectum of race by some people in this country.
I see why the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president of the US gives some people the willies (no pun intended).
he sounds like 90% of the fans on this board, yet they complain about that too.
So true!!!! How many people have posted on this site how bad the Mets are, and griped when the Phils got Lidge, but now that a player says the same damn thing, they all freak out! If he’d said “we’re the best,” then what? We’d agree? We’d be relieved? Or maybe when asked to assess the NL east he should offer a “no comment.”
funny, I was going to say the same thing…why can he not say what he thinks? because he’s on the team? so what? I hate all the canned answers we hear all the time, and we hear them because atheletes get piled on when they speak honestly.
darned if he does. darned if if dont. there aint no winnin with some people.
yeah its much more useful to constantly gripe about the other fans posting on this website.
I disagree with the prevailing sentiment here. After the collapse, a bunch of bravado and boasting would have told me that the player hadn’t come to grips with what had happened. It’s perfectly appropriate for him to say, look, we lost last year, we collapsed, and right now we can understand why they’d be ranked ahead of us. We need to go out there and earn back the respect .
Then again, it all depends on context. If he simply was asked how the Mets stack up against the competition, saying “oh, they’re better than us” is just being a defeatist.
Hey, at least the guy is being honest. I think that the Phillies and Braves are at least as good as the Mets.
I don’t see why anyone should be so confident that the Mets are the team to beat this year in the NL East. They were last year and look how that turned out.
I rather the Mets stay under the radar and have less pressure on them. Maybe they needed a reality check, last year because it just may have been a case of them thinking their poo poo didn’t stink. That would start all the way from Omar and end at the players.
Between Omar not doing enough to solidify the team last offseason and Willie talking about sweetness and champagne, I’ve had enough of their BS.
I wasn’t a fan of Billy Wagner before, but I am now because at least he has some passion and feels like the Mets need to prove themselves. They do. They didn’t win crap last season and they are a laughing stock to a lot of people. I’m sick of it and maybe Billy is, too. Good!
The main problem i have with that, is it is unclear that the comment was made out of passion. He doesnt have to have passion for the team’s success to say that the team is not that good.
Not including the interview, which I’ve yet to see, this guy is making me regret more and more hoping and pulling for his signing, and having me thinking that Burrell was the real bad guy in Philly. What a fool I’ve been. Billy is a total ass and its about time someone on the inside told him as much and to keep his trap shut.
Maybe he knows his back is shot and he’s going to be terrible, in which case the Mets are 3rd best in the division.
It’s so hard to find a Rivera or a Papelbon ….
Maybe Omar should tell Smith to throw in Nathan in the package with Santana and we’ll add the best closer…ahem…in baseball to our package.
I agree with most of you. This guy never shuts up. Stop dissing your own team. How many games did he blow??
I don’t get Mets fans. Why is he an ass? He doesn’t say the stock answer? He doesn’t talk out of his rear and lie basically? Is that what we want? As someone said, are we as fans supposed to be relieved or somehow get cocky and arrogant because a player talks smack and says how good the team will be?
Just pretend Wagner said everything is wonderful and the Mets will win 125 games next year if it will make you sleep better at night.
Only 125 wins?
When analysts who have absolutely no connection to the team have a higher opinion of our chances than our own closer does, what would you call him? a realist? So maybe the analysts who think the Mets may be the favorites should be called asses?
At this point in time, most analysts will have Philly at the top to defend their NL East title. To think they’ll have the Mets back on top when we’ve lost Glavine and added Schneider and Church is just being a homer.
They’re going to look at our team and see, for the most part, this is the exact same team that did the impossible (collapse). Why would they all of a sudden think we’re W.S. favorites??
Reality, people. Billy has a grasp of it. Maybe you should try…
Guys on the team shouldn’t be saying this stuff.
Ultimately, and i know several of you will disagree with me, i think it comes down to the way it is said.
I should hold out final judgement until i can hear the actual interview, but based on what he has said in the past and what we have so far, its the difference between a guy like david wright and a guy like billy wagner.
heres what might happen:
David Wright will say “look – the phillies won last year. they took first-place and theyre 1. But i know that if we work hard and play baseball the way i know we can, we can take that back.”
Wagner says “we lost glavine and loduca. we havent really improved. we’re not as good as the phillies or the braves.”
Now, neither one of them is necessarily wrong. Have to wait for the season to play out to know; But the comments that might be made by a guy like Wright would be much less of a PR nightmare and detriment to the team psyche than what Wagner seems to have said. Unless the team takes it as a form ‘reverse psychology motivation’. I just don’t thats how Wagner intended it though.
I like it when athletes speak their minds and I’ve always liked Wagner’s bluntness. But this is too much. This is the anti-Rollins statement that speaks more of insecurity and doubt than of confidence.
I don’t like it and I wonder if Wagner will ever have the competitive fire that could help the Mets win a WS title.
Moreover, I think he’s wrong. None of the teams in the NL east has improved greatly, so at the most I would say they are all even at the gate.
I think he’s saying this so he gets less hounded when he blows saves against them.
Has anyone considered that he may just be, at the very least, somewhat correct. Throughout the upcoming season the Mets need to reassert themselves as the frontrunners in the NL East by proving it on the field. Right now, there is no reason for the Mets or Mets fans, myself included, to be confident about the Mets beating the Phillies or the Braves. They have a lot of work to do to regain teh credibility they had after the 2006 season.
lucas, i think some people here agree with you- at least partially. I think the problem is, to use a metaphor: if youre a teacher and youre meeting with the parents of a student who could have done well in the class, but has done poorly on his last few tests, do you tell the parents that their kid is not very good at your subject? or do you tell them that he has the ability to be better, and if he works at it and has the right motivation, he could get there. (i’m not even saying that you would tell the parents he could be the best in the class – just that he could be better than hes showing.) The mets may not have the horses to be the best in the division without santana or other improvements. that doesnt mean you go out as a member of that team and say “theyre really not good”
And if the kid fell from an A- to a D-?
Don’t you think there should be some concern.
WE LOST A 7 GAME LEAD WITH 17 TO GO, FOLKS!!!!
Billy recognizes the “we’re a championship caliber club, we’re better than the Phillies, we’re going to sip champagne and its going to taste sweet,” cliches didn’t work last year. They got complacent.
Billy’s trying to wake everyone up. Like you!
For Chrissake why would the lowly Braves be ranked higher than us?
I mean, I can understand giving the NL East Champion Phillies (ugh, I just threw up a little bit) their due, but the Braves? That team has accomplished very little during this off-season, certainly nothing that would prove to me that they’re better than our Mets.
Billy is a little diva and I hate his little tantrums. Did I mention that he is little?
This isn’t to say he isn’t a quality closer but rather, this is to say that he was far from a guaranteed save during a good chunk of last season.
In conclusion, I hope he pitches well and shuts the phuck up.
Well, this should let the air out of all you posters who think Matt is now under the control of SNY…i can’t imagine they would be pleased that he is scooping them a hour before the telecast!
LOL
where do you think he go the info? it’s leaked to him to get fans to actually watch the show.
yeah, I’m sure SNY has a hard time attracting readers of MetsBlog to Mets Hot Stove!
If that’s so, then why should SNY ever be concerned with Matt giving a sneak preview?
I don’t always watch it, by the way. But I’m going to try to catch this week’s show just because of that comment. I want to see how he said it and in exactly what context.
i don’t know…maybe sny did ‘leak’ it as a teaser…my first reaction was that it kind of steals the thunder from the broadcast.
Are you kidding? This is a great promo/publicity for this week’s show. If anything, it will persuade more Mets fans to watch it … like me. Having said that, I never worried about Matt’s integrity. No one here should be concerned with that.
I’d love to watch Mets Hot Stove tonight and see the exchange myself, but I have DirecTV and as of this second the SNY feed is not working, just a screen saying “technical difficulties.” I hope they fix it before spring training.
I don’t have a problem with his comment. It’s true. Maybe it’ll light a fire under Omar’s a$$.
The problem with this team last year was a lack of a sense of urgency from top to bottom.
As the Mets spent the last 4 months of the season playing .500 ball, the Mets repeatedly from the top in Omar Minaya and Willie to individual players (LoDuca, Delgado, Green, Glavine etc,) kept repeating their manatra, well, we are still in first place. They had the same feeling like we are a better team than Philly and Atlanta, and we will turn it on when we have to and beat Philly in the end.
Well, how’d that work out for us!!!
Good for Billy for for recognizing that they will not be able to coast all year and make the playoffs.
Hey ………Billie is telling the truth as he sees it….. “up close and personal”. That should worry all of us and hopefully OMAR. Wags is indirectly saying what many of us on this blog have been saying: “Get Santana”.
He is also indirectly saying that maybe arrogance and entitlement caused the Mets to take a championship for granted last year….even in the middle of a monumental collapse at year end.
Some body has to say it….and now is the time to say it.
Thanks Billie Wags keep saying it all year and make sure you hold up your part of the bargain……Get 40 saves.
A
We love this team but they have to play with a sense of urgency all year to win it, especially if they do not get Santana.
The “Ghost of the COLLAPSE” will be with us all until the, hopefully successful,ending of the 2008 season!!!!!
Its honestly crazy to assume that we r the 3rd best team!
I wouldn’t say that we r hands down the best at this point, BUT, u gotta look at wat transpired last year for us to not win the division. A HISTORIC collapse was the ONLY reason that the Phillies even had a chance to catch the Mets in the division. As the team is constituted right now (no Santana deal, no Lohse or Livan deal, etc) we r at least as good as anybody in the division.
Don’t forget that both the Phils and Braves lost their Allstar centerfielders.
Sounds just like the “we’re still in first place” mantra that eventually BURIED this team last year…
Billy may be right at this point but once the Mets land Santana it better not be Wags that blows a few games so we do finish second or even worse, third as he predicts
You know what? He very well could be right.
I have a prediction that is as obvious as the Santana will be traded. “Billy Wagner will not leave the Mets on good terms”
I can see it only this way. Billy is pissed that the Mets let Loduca and Glavine go and did not bring in Lidge. He is also angry that the Phillies beat him as that is his own little rivarly that has nothing to do with the team. His comment sounds like someone that is spoiled and wants press. A good closer comes out and says “Look it was ours to win and we just did not perform. The Phillies walked in the open door that we left open. This year I will do my best to make sure that I keep that door closed.”
it amuses me that anyone still gets up in arms about what comes out of Billy Wagner’s mouth. Who knows why he said this, is it because he believes it? Wants to motivate the team? Who knows…and frankly, who cares, they’re just words, and in reality matt, you shouldn’t be worrying about this kind of thing, at all. It’s Billy Wagner, it’s what he does, time to move on. All we should care about is him getting outs in the 9th inning.
Its distressing to see someone already raise the white flag. I really hope is trying to motivate his team. But in the wake of this mess you would like to see these guys put everything behind and start thinking positively.
Bottom line…….. When Wagner signed here he was made all types of promises from management about bringing in talent….. He’s frustrated that management didn’t live up to their promises this off season, while watching in his eyes the Braves and Phillies doing a better job than his team….. He is frustrated and expressing it…… Completely understandable…
The Mets have spent more money bringing in talent than any of his other teams had and have. Lets not forget he was choosing between the Phillies and the Mets, and I feel the Mets have done more to field a competetive team than the Phillies have.
I’m pretty sure Billy Wagner wouldn’t agree with you……
So why bother reporting to spring training this year if you know you aren’t going to compete for a division crown?…oh wait you get paid to pitch so you HAVE to show up. Who care about winning? Just cash your pay check and move along Billy. Perhaps we should look into aquiring Nathan if this Johan thing falls through? Or maybe we should pick Nathan up next year and cut this clown loose. I could not imagine Vince Lombardi would ever write off a season before it starts. What athlete with a competitive bone in their body writes a season off when they have a plausible chance of winning the thing.
If I am D-wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado, I am think Billy Wagner does not think I can make a difference and carry the team. Particularly Reyes and Delgado. They had off years and they know that if they rebound the Mets bear claim to the crown.
Billy….please stop throwing your teammates under the bus! You don’t even play every day!
Wags isn’t saying the Mets will lose in 2008. He is saying that they are the number three team in the National East going into the season. Thats all.
From that we can take his meaning to be that Omar should get Santana and the entire team should have a sense of urgency ALL SEASON to win it all and prove they are the best on the FIELD not in quotes to the media. Whats that old saw about not winning the game just by throwing you glove out onto the field? They have to play the games is all…..and win……to be the best.
“Who care about winning?”
Certainly NOT the Mets, as they showed last season….
Wagner is always a sure thing when he comes in.
spoken like the leader of a bullpen that was embarrassed don’t the stretch leading to a epic collapse.
i hope he’s this honest with himself and bullpen-mates.
he’s hardly known as a big game pitcher. terrible in the playoffs. terrible in big games for the astros, phils, and mets (utley base hit. phils sweep the mets)
Yeah right………..thats why he is going into the Hall of Fame after he retires.
hahahahaha
playoffs
11g 9.58era 10.1ip 11r 18h 1bb
it’s the closer job to be clutch. he a good regular season (unimportant game) closer.
AAAHHHHH SOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!
He is still going into the Hall of FAME.
Just like Glavine was a breve in disguise, Wagner is a philly at heart
That’s pretty funny if you know anything about his relationship with the Philly fans. He did NOT leave on good terms. They despise him.
Considering the way he failed spectacularly down the stretch, considering the disdain he has for Willie and Peterson, and considering the way he’s weaseled his way off two teams with incendiary comments just like this, I think it’s painfully obvious Wags is trying his best to get traded.
Good points. I agree. The Mets should oblige him.
He’s not calling the other teams out (like he would if he said they suck or that we’re the team to beat) – he’s calling Omar and the Wilpons out, which while disrespectful to his bosses, might be deserving. We’ll see apparently in the next 9 days. The irony is the thing they could have done to make the team closer to #1 on that list would have been to sign Francisco Cordero, which I guess Wagner would have objected to. Somebody should ask “honest Billy” how he would have reacted to that.
Wagner talks a lot. Definitely too much. Wagner for Nathan. I wouldnt be opposed, especially when Wagner leaves much to be desired when playing in tough situations.
The Twins would NEVER make that deal.
I know they wouldnt. I would never make that deal if I were the Twins, but if they required Martinez for this trade, and you offered Wagner/Nathan to get it done. Would you pull the trigger?
I do not ever see this happening, but would you do it?
Just gauging what everyone thinks about Wags.
Wagner makes OVER $10M/year. Do you honestly believe they would take on Billy’s contract after trying to unload Nathan ($6M)??
In our heart of hearts, we know he has a very good point!
If pitching wins championships,
than the Mets need to start a plan….
in the next 2 weeks or so.
I just finished watching Billy’s interview, and all I can say is all power to him for being honest and speaking the truth.
I watched also. I agree….he is telling the truth. Now lets see the team do better than that on the FIELD!!!!
Santana would make it easier, thats for sure.
I just watched the interview and I think most of you guys jumped the gun. While i do not agree with him, I think he was just trying to motivate his team.
I don’t see that as motivation. You are obviously frowning upon your team. A player never looks good when he calls his team out like that. It is a big problem for me that he is making predictions prior to the commencement of the season. He is a closer, not an analyst.
McNabb demanding more playmakers. Kobe making gripes, now shutting up because they are winning. You only look like a fool when you make assumptions like this and they turn out to be untrue.
Regardless whether my heart may agree with his statements, he should NEVER voice those types of opinions. Talk about team unity.
Like I said, I don’t necessarily agree with what he did. I just don’t think he had negative intentions based on the way it came out. I think the intention was to indirectly say to his teammates “fellas, we’ve got something to prove this year”. Personally, I think that stuff belongs behind closed doors in the clubhouse but I am not going to crucify the guy over his comments.
Metsgirl23 you like bashing everyone
Go have another Yodel
The great thing about the USA is that you can freely speak your mind, even if you are completely wrong.
Braves and Phillies both lost their star centerfielders this winter. Mets lost a 43 year old junkballer and possible star LMillz.
It’s better to keep quiet and let others think you’re stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Billy, Billy, Billy. Aren’t veteran closers supposed to put OUT fires?
As far as the virtues of honesty go… well, as I go through my day, I often find myself noticing the fine patoot of a lady or two. I do not often find myself saying, “Damn, that lady has a fine set of buttocks, one that I would like to make sex on” out loud. (And I don’t have SNY microphones pointed in my direction.)
Seems to me a majority of posters think that was Billy did was okay and I have to agree. We rip the players when the team is collapsing and they say “We’ll be okay”; we rip the players when they speak freely and say “We should be ranked lower than the Phillies/Braves” – they can’t win!
Personally, I think he’s right, or at least partly right. There’s no reason, right now, we should rank higher than the Phillies. I hate to remind us Met fans but we collapsed and they won the Division. Doesn’t matter that they lost in the first round, they’re defending 2007 NL East Champs. Now, I think we’re better off than Atlanta but you can’t knock the man for speaking his mind.
Plus, saying what he said does two things. 1. It will give the players a shot of reality and make them work a bit harder in ST and 2. Gives the Phillies/Braves a false sense of entitlement.
So I applaude Billy for speaking his mind. With LoDuca gone, somoene has to stir up the nest. I’m tired of players always saying the right thing. When a player speaks his mind at least you know he’s alive inside and he actually gives a s_ _ t.
Go Mets!!
Can’t tell if this is a popular sentiment here, but I think that a) Wagner should shut his mouth, and b) he’s way off. The Phillies got very lucky, and the Mets got very unlucky. They deserve some credit, but as badly as the Mets played, they should have won the division by 5 games. And there team hasn’t gotten any better this offseason. Rowand was an impact player for them, and he’s gone. They got who? Brad Lidge? Yeah, which one?
And the Braves haven’t done squat besides losing Andruw Jones and signing old pitchers of our scrap heap. They can have him – good luck.
On the other hand, we’ll likely have Pedro for a full year (or near a full year), Castillo for a full year, and an improved bullpen. Call me an optimist, but I still think we have the best team in the division, and will only get far better when Santana is ours.
Wagner is doing nothing besides sowing discontent and disunity, and for all the money he’s getting paid, he’d better back up his comment a better performance this year. I don’t to hear about pussy injuries when we need a closer, and I don’t want hear his mouth running when he’s not covering his end of the deal.
That said, I’m confident he’ll have a better season this year. I just wish he’d shut his ignorant mouth. Perhaps he’s just trying to motivate upper management to get a deal done, but honestly, they’re not listening to him. They know more about putting a team together than he probably ever will.
Yeah, Billy. Be quiet. Drink the Koolaid.
Welcome to Madison Square Garden.
What a bunch of lame-asses.
Just because you are a person who “speaks his mind” doesn’t mean you have to speak it all the time.
There is a time and a place for everything and i don’t see how it helps the team to say stuff like that.
I wonder if he thinks Willie mismanaged when he put wagner in to close out the phillies game in september.
Wagner blew game 2 of the division series, the all-star game and plenty of games in the second half last year, so he should shut it
We should have been looking for a new closer this off season.
The only truth that matters regarding this interview is the following: Billy Wagner is clubhouse poison.
He is the anti-Jimmy Rollins.
“The bigger the game, the smaller the Wagner” — my motto.
Congrats to Billy Wagner for speaking his mind……again. Although I agree with the comment, to an extent (if the Mets land Johan, then things change quite a bit headed into ‘08 camp) — you don’t say this publicly.
It just reeks of a guy who says things for the sake of saying it. I haven’t seen the interview — but if he publicly acknowledged himself and has come to the realization that he’s part of the problem the last few years…….I fully support his commentary.
Until then, just shut up and show up when it matters, Bill. The act’s getting old……with every organization you represent.
It’d be refreshing to see this “3rd best” team step it up and play some ball this season. I hope Willie actually challenges them in 2008…..as it wasn’t done the entire way in 2007.
I just heard the billy wagner comment on mets hot stove. He said the Mets were third bascially because he is still frustrated how the team fell apart last year. He thinks the Mets can win the division, but he knows that they can not let up this year and play all 162 games with out taking anything for granted. The Mets do not need Santana to win either. I understand the Mets are only giving up prospects, but the prospects they have been rumored to trade all good players. Mulvey is a pitcher that keeps the ball down and has 4 solid pitches already, he is going to be a 2nd or 3rd rotation starter. Guerra has a great fastball and a great change up, if he develops one more pitch he can help the Mets in the bullpen or fight for a spot in the rotation in as soon as 09′. Gomez we all know is a speedy outfielder with great defense and when he fills out will be a 20 hr a year hitter. I think he will be a step below Carl Crawford but a very similiar player. Imagine a defensive outfield of Beltran, Gomez and Martinez in 09′. One thing you have to remember is defense and pitching wins all the time, look at the 69 mets, they did it pitching and defense. If the Mets deal the four prospects of Mulvey, Gomez, Guerra and Humber, they will be depleted in their minor league system and will have way too much money tied to one player. Santana wants 25 million a year, a 6 year 150 contract. I understand he is an awesome pitcher but his best years are behind him. If they spend all their money on Santana we will not have enough money to resign perez, or go after Sabathia or Texitera next offseason. I think if we get Santana we will have a good chance of winning a world series, but if we do not we will have a good chance of starting a dynasty with the young prospects and veterens. Look at the late 90’s N Y Yankees they did it with Jeter, Pasada, Rivera, Pettite, imagine if they traded them for one great player, they would not of won a ws title yet. To me watching prospects develop is alot more exciting then a 29 year old cy young award winner who wants 25 million a year. Look at the Rockies of last year, or the Marlins of 97′ or 03′. Lets go Mets!!!
Love his honesty. I’d love, even more, if he had ONE major example of consistent BIG GAME saves.
More WINNING (like Papelbon or Rivera) and LESS TALKING, please. This team is full of TALKERS with VERY few PROVEN WINNERS. Think that had an impact last year, when they talked a big game about how they were fine…but did not know HOW to overcome their collapse?
It’s not a coincidence…
I have said for two years now, I hate billy Fing wagner. He is a neg influence on our team. He says only neg things, has he ever come through for us? anyone remember when things were on the ropes and Wagner came in and saved the day? I would love to hear a good story… I cant remember any. He is a bum and a large part of why we had a historical collapse last year. I hope he blows saves early in the year so we give the ball to duaner or pelfrey in the closer role… maybe trade for nathan
i agree
i also agree with the third posting and the ninth. all of them are seemingly very true — but not the fifth.
willy B. wagner says;
will wagner hates the fairy mets. he has done the equivolent of coming to work and saying F U boss 3 times this offseason. “How about I shove a hot dog up your — and also you suck — ha we suck — pay me. loduca and millege are everything. oh and play that sandman song for me, seems to work for the dude across town and saves me time finding a song.” — “Oh and PS i live on farm far away from you Yankees. Once this is over I’m back to the farm and you clowns can keep your crap team.” “Third place Yankee Mets.” “Clowns.” “Ha.”
Wasn’t it Wagner who is alleged to have put up the “know your place” sign? And Wagner who was upset when Tom “dissapointed” Glavine left town?
But thankfully he has you coming to his defense.
What do either of those things have to do with race?