He was making way to much money for a guy that had a setup man that was as good as most closers in the MLB. He also was (and still is) a headcase. The money we saved went into signing Pettitte although Dotel did not do well, Brad Lidge came in and was better closer for a season and a half than Billy Wagner ever was. He gave up one hit in the 04 NLDS. 05 playoffs....not so much.
yeah but if we still had wagner we would still have had a closer for the past two years, dude was worth the money imo
Whose to say he would have stayed when he became a free agent? He publicly criticized Drayton saying he was not willing to do what it takes to win. And as I said, 10.5 million dollars a year is quite a lot for a closer. It would have been a complete waste this past season considering the Astros were a bad team and would not have been affected by a good closer. The Astros owed him 16 million in his last 2 years, they paid Andy Pettitte 14 million in that same period and although 04 was a wash, Andy was the biggest reason we made the playoffs in 05. His 2nd half was amazing.
One day before he showed up on this minor Congressional report. On which there were plenty of indications beforehand that his name would show up.
