UPDATE: Billy Wagner Reportedly Accepts Trade From Mets to Red Sox

Update: So it appears Billy Wagner will, after all, accept a deal to the Red Sox, despite reports to the contrary last night. Here's more info on the trade. Dan Levy's original post is below.

If you were a 38-year-old pitcher who never got past the LCS in your career, wouldn't you want a chance to play for a competitive team to try and get to – then maybe win – a World Series before your career is over?

Not Billy Wagner, if you believe the report late last night by Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal. The Mets recently placed Wagner and his hefty contract, of which 3.5 million dollars still remains for this season, on waivers. Wagner missed much of the last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery and while he was hitting 95 on the gun this week in his Mets return, his time in New York is dwindling. The Mets signed J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez before the season to ostensibly replace Wagner, so putting him on waivers should have come as no surprise.

What did come as a surprise, perhaps, was that the Red Sox claimed the fireballing lefty off waivers, and the Mets have until today to work out a trade or pull him back off waivers. The Mets and Sox seem to have a deal in place, but there's the sticky issue of Wagner agreeing to the deal – he has a no trade clause, after all.

Wagner doesn't want to play for a winning team. Setting up games for Jonathan Papelbon for the next two months isn't something that Wagner seems interested in. He doesn't want the Sox to pick up his option for next year, which they have reportedly agreed to. But the Sox (and the Mets for that matter) won't agree to decline arbitration next year, which seems to be a sticking point for Wagner. Any team offering Wagner arbitration would receive two high draft picks if he declines, so the Sox are happy rent him for two months, decline the option for next year and get two picks when he walks. It seems like a winning situation for Wagner too. He'll get to show the league his arm is back to full strength and maybe get a chance to win some playoff games, something he hasn't done much of in his career. But according to Rosenthal's source, that might be what's holding this trade up:

"It's not about the option or arbitration. It's about his desire to end the year healthy for the future. He feels he has a better chance lasting a month in a less competitive environment than perhaps two months in a pennant race and playoffs.”

It seems that Wagner is doing everything he can to squash the trade, even exchanging barbs with Papelbon through the media. When asked about adding Wagner to the 'pen, Paps told Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal (via MLB Trade Rumors):

"We have a good dynamic down there in the bullpen and guys who work well together," Papelbon said. "Is Billy Wagner a good pitcher? Will he bring more depth to our bullpen and make our bullpen better? There's no question about it. But you still have to think about what we have now and what we've been able to accomplish to this point in the season."

Seems innocuous enough, right? Papelbon is just telling reporters that he thinks Wagner is a good pitcher and could add depth but he's happy with the dynamic they have right now. Wagner took it another way, from Jon Heyman's Twitter:

"When he walks in my shoes then I'll say something. Let him be 38 and have Tommy John surgery ..."

And it's not just Boston that Wagner doesn't want to go to. When claimed off waivers, reports speculated it was the Phillies, in need of bullpen help for the playoff run, might be interested in brining Wagner back. He told reporters:

"No," Wagner said of whether he'd ever consider a return to the Phillies, for whom he was the closer in 2004 and 2005. "That (stuff) was hard enough for two years. I can't imagine a month, coming off Tommy John (surgery). At 38, Tommy John, no. (The fans) expect way too much."

The fans do expect too much, if winning baseball is expecting too much. By the sound of it, Wagner wants his career to end on his terms, on a team of his choosing next season. With the chance to contribute to a team in the playoff hunt, Wagner has until today to decide, does he want to play for a winning franchise, or would he rather be a loser.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.