This earlier post from yesterday noted the dubious decision of the New York Mets to pay former Stros closer Billy Wagner $43 million over the next three seasons with an option for a fourth season that could push the total compensation to over $50 million.
One thing that I forgot to mention in that earlier post was the classless way in which Wagner publicly criticized Stros owner Drayton McLane before and after McLane traded him to the Phillies. McLane has his faults, but Wagner’s outburst blasting McLane was way over-the-top considering that McLane is by far the best owner that the Stros have ever had.
So, with that backdrop, I was not particularly surprised when I saw this Philadelphia Inquirer article regarding Wagner’s comments on the way out of Philly:

On his first day as New York Mets closer, Billy Wagner came out throwing heat at his old team.
He trashed the Phillies’ commitment to winning, wondered about their plan for this season, and said he’d likely still be with the club if it had been willing to give him a three-year, $24 million contract in July.
“There’s a difference between winning and being competitive,” Wagner said. “In the end, I thought [the Phillies] were more interested in being competitive than winning.”
Wagner was not surprised that the Phillies weren’t more aggressive.
“Not considering I gave them three for 24 [three years and $24 million] at the trade deadline and they laughed at me,” he said.

Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro took umbrage with that comment.
“That’s untrue,” he said by telephone from Philadelphia. “No one laughed. The reason we were taken aback was that his original asking price was two years and $16 million. When we offered that, the asking price changed to three years at $24 million.”
The Phillies were unwilling to offer three years in July because Wagner turned 34 that month and the team had concerns about the long-term health of his left shoulder. Wagner had spent time on the disabled list with a strained shoulder in 2004.
Like his predecessor, Ed Wade, new general manager Pat Gillick made keeping Wagner a top priority. Gillick improved the Phillies’ offer to three years and was willing to add a fourth-year option, but it wasn’t enough.
“If Pat had gotten there earlier, I think he could have gotten something done,” Wagner said. “He didn’t have much time.”
Gillick and Wagner had one face-to-face meeting and the pitcher, at the time, said he was impressed with the new GM’s plan.
Yesterday, Wagner made an about-face.
“For me, the question I had all along was I wanted to know their plan for getting relief and starting pitching and they really didn’t have answers because Pat just got there,” Wagner said.
“While the Phillies were getting rid of one guy, the Mets were buying up talent, and that’s hard to overlook.”
The “talent” Wagner referred to is slugger Carlos Delgado, whom the Mets picked up the same day the Phillies traded Jim Thome to the White Sox last week.
[Wagner’s] legacy in Philadelphia may end up being the left-field wall at Citizens Bank Park. He frequently complained about it being too close. This week, construction crews will begin moving the wall back.
Wagner, at times, also complained about how close fans were allowed to get to the bullpens in Philadelphia, and how they would deride relievers during the game.

My bet is that, in a year or so, the Phillies will look at this deal as a good one that they elected not to make, just as the Stros have realized with regard to the Beltran deal.