Those readers of this blog who have been faithful to the Red Sox for a few years will remember a certain French-Canadian ex-closer whom the Red Sox picked up in exchange for a few spare parts at the 2007 trading deadline. This maneuver, though viewed as aggressive and smart at the time, blew up more or less immediately in the faces of pretty much everyone involved. M. Eric Gagne, who had posted reasonably impressive numbers during the first half of the '07 season, arrived in Boston just in time to start coughing up games. He blew at least three late-inning leads for the Sox in the regular season (most memorably a blown three-run save against the Orioles), and kept up the bad work when the playoffs rolled around. It was a huge disaster and everyone blamed Theo for screwing it up, even though as the faithful among you will recall the Red Sox proceeded to win the World Series. But I digress.
Fast-forward to 2009, a year in which the Red Sox have had more than their share of pitching problems. These things happen. It's a long season, people get old, bad luck strikes. But the good organizations go out and do something. And so Sox GM Theo Epstein, trusty and fearless leader that he is, picked up recovering Mets closer Billy Wagner in exchange for a wink and a smile--the Mets just wanted to dump his contract. This, of course, caused everyone to freak out, because, basically that's what the internet is for. And what better tool to lay blame on Theo Epstein than the now-MIA Eric Gagne? (Here is sample finger wag, for those interested.)
So. I am here to tell you that Billy Wagner is going to be a key arm in the next month (or more!) Red Sox fans need to have some confidence in their brand. You guys can go ahead and complain that he's old and coming off surgery, but let's also remember that he was supposed to miss the entire 2009 season, and some people even thought he might never pitch again. He's a six-time all-star with almost 400 career saves who has been lights-out for eight consecutive years and you're ready to write him off already? I don't think I'm with you.
By the way, he's only pitched 3 innings this year, but here are his vitals: 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 SO. Oh and he hit 95 on the radar gun. All of this feels like a lot of flap over a guy who's likely to be a situational lefty for a team that was just looking for an extra arm, but, hey...you guys started it. I'm just getting his back. Hasn't he earned that much?
