As first reported by FOXSports and now reported by ESPN.com, the Mets have signed closer Billy Wagner to a four-year deal:
Wagner, considered by many the top reliever on the free-agent market, will be paid $10.5 million for each 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. There's a club option for 2010, in which the Mets will either pay him $8 million -- bringing the deal to $50 million -- or buy him out for $1 million. Either way, Wagner is guaranteed $43 million over four years.After B.J. Ryan signed with Toronto for five years and $47 million, the Mets really had to go to four guaranteed years in order to land Wagner. It's a lot of years and a lot of money to be sure, but the Mets really had to step up here lest they have to resort to the next level of available closers -- Tom Gordon, Kyle Farnsworth, etc.