SO WAGNER IS COMING TO THE RED SOX

The very strange Bill Wagner had a twist ending this afternoon. After his whimsically named agent Bean Stringfellow made it well-known that the Red Sox refused to agree to Wagner's conditions, therefore keeping Wagner in New York; we find out that the Sox agreed to one of his conditions, and now he's coming to Boston.

Let's just go over a rough sequence of events to reinforce how bizarre this story has been:

1) The Mets put Wagner on waivers, the Red Sox claim him.

2) The Mets and Sox worked out a deal

3) Wagner claimed that he'd refuse to waive his no-trade clause unless the Sox guaranteed not to pick up his 2010 option, and not to offer him arbitration

4) The Sox claim that Wagner never proposed these conditions

5) Wagner and his agent say that Wagner will stay in New York in order to preserve his recently reconstructed arm.

6) Wagner and his agent agree to come to Boston, the Sox agree not to pick-up his option, but maintain the right to offer arbitration

So yeah, very dramatic.

And to his credit, Papelbon was somewhat welcoming in his remarks once the trade became "official."

And seriously, I'm sick and tired of every remark made by every athlete being overanalyzed and investigated to death. I'm listening to WEEI right now and nobody is talking about how this move affects the Red Sox bullpen. They're discussing what Papelbon said a few days ago, and whether or not that demonstrates some sort of latent insecurity. Apparently, everyone's a shrink.

Remember when sports talks was about sports, and not about quotes and remarks?



Source:
Boston.com's Extra Bases