Closer Jonathan Papelbon will be the keynote speaker and is scheduled to lead the singing of Kumbaya around a Fenway bullpen bonfire before Wagner’s first appearance in front of the faithful.
Kidding aside, Wagner could be the final piece of the Red Sox’ championship puzzle. He’s a left-hander who throws seeds, another arm Terry Francona can call on in late innings to face the Carlos Penas, Carl Crawfords, Johnny Damons, Hideki Matsuis and Bobby Abreus of the world, when ducks are on the pond and the game hangs in the balance.
Wagner has plenty of experience in pressure situations and doesn’t have many holes on his career resume. The six-time All-Star has struck out 1,070 batters in 820 innings over 767 games in 15 seasons, an average of 11.7 K’s per nine innings. He’s limited opposing hitters to a .189 clip (.202 to lefties, .186 to righties), a .263 on-base percentage and a .299 slugging percentage. And he’s allowed only 76 home runs in 3,276 plate appearances, or once every 43 times a batter steps in the box.
He also ranks sixth on the all-time saves list with 385, more than any other southpaw in major league history except John Franco.
Those kind of qualifications could earn Wagner a plaque in Cooperstown one day. But rings are not won on paper.
Boston is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately town, and Wagner is going to find out soon enough that the final five weeks of this season are all that matter to the Red Sox.
If Wagner turns out to be a bigger disaster than the Eric Gagne project or the John Smoltz experiment, the 38-year-old lefty might wish he had stayed in Queens, pitching in meaningless games and padding his stats for a big free-agent payday.
But if Wagner still has some bullets in his Tommy John-surgically repaired elbow, this could be one more reason why Epstein is the best general manager in the business. Every year, he’s been unafraid to take risks, make moves and do whatever is possible to tweak the roster until the clock strikes midnight on any deadline. Of course, Epstein is not batting 1.000 (nobody does), but two World Series titles in six seasons is proof he knows what he’s doing.
Wagner is another gamble for the Red Sox. He’s 11 months removed from having his arm rebuilt and has only pitched two innings this year.
Only time will tell if he is the difference-maker or makes no difference.
