A willing Wagner VS. a pretentious Papelbon by Mike Ghika
Pap's need to speak has become a problem


The music cues as the bullpen door swings open. The Dropkicks overtake the sound system at Fenway. Our beloved (“The Legend”) Detective Billy Dunn holds out his fist for the traditional pound. Next, closer Jonathan Papelbon gets the loudest ovation that any Sox player in fact receives on a nightly basis as he heads to the mound.

By all means, there is bevy of benefits in having Papelbon as the Red Sox’ closer. He is a competitor. An intimidator. A proven winner. A World Champion. But at the same time, although I’m not sure how many members of the Nation even recognize it, Jonathan Papelbon can at times be a problem. Let’s face it, the Mississippi native isn’t exactly known as a class act.

And with the most recent development in the Sox trade market – one in which GM Theo Epstein has a chance to acquire the best left-handed closer ever – Papelbon has stated in his clear opposition to the idea. The deadline for the decision is tomorrow, so we will soon know whether or not reliever Billy Wagner of the Mets will be headed to a playoff race in Boston.

“When you acquire somebody you have to get rid of somebody,” Papelbon said. “I like the way our bullpen sets up right now. So that’s the tough situation.”

Wagner’s rebuttal: “I don’t have any thoughts on somebody like him. When he walks in my shoes, then I’ll say something. Let him be 38 and have Tommy John and come back.”

Manny Delcarmen even made negative comments last week on the possibility of the Sox getting Wagner. It is pure speculation, but I find it unlikely that Delcarmen, who is relatively nonexistent with the media to begin with, would make such comments on his own without close friend Papelbon in his ear.

Perhaps Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek both had reason to display their veteran dislike over the Victor Martinez acquisition, but instead both simply made the textbook comments saying that they were all for bettering the team and that they would put their trust in their manager.

Meanwhile, Papelbon, who refers to becoming one of the greatest closers of all-time quite frequently, is for some reason not in favor of bringing on the hard-nosed Wagner, who is sixth on the all-time list with 385 career saves. Wagner could bring relief to the eighth inning set-up crew and perhaps even come on as a left-handed specialist at times if he were to join the bullpen.

“It’s not that it shakes the balance,” Pap said, “you have that little bit of time of getting used to it, but how are we going to use this guy now, what situation is he going to be best in, who’s going to leave our bullpen? It’s a multitude of things, it’s not just one specific thing.”

Papelbon also said that moving pieces would be a disruptive action for a close-knit bullpen. He noted how good the bullpen has been, but realistically the bullpen has not been as shut-down as it was in the first half. I’m not quite sure I understand how adding a future Hall-of-Fame balloter in a supportive role affects how “good the bullpen has been.”

He talks about moving pieces as if the Sox will have to trade a highly-regarded bullpen guy to get Wagner, or at least demote one of them to make room for Wagner at the very least. But realistically, one mid-level prospect will likely get a deal done, and making room for Wagner in the bullpen shouldn’t be much of an issue with rosters expanding September 1.

So, is Pap displaying fear for losing his closer’s role? Well that question was answered when Wagner’s agent made it clear the lefty would waive his no-trade clause and join Boston only if they agreed to not exercise his $8 million option for 2010, nor offer him arbitration. It would give Wagner the freedom to sign wherever he wants this winter, but mainly allows him to try and resurrect his dominance as a closer next year.

So wait.

Wagner wants to come join a dominant bullpen and enter a playoff race. He also says he does not want to make his $8 million next year (a figure he surely will not even approach on the open market in this economy as he comes off Tommy John surgery) so that he can go elsewhere and close because he knows he cannot in Boston. Then why is it that Papelbon even open his mouth?

For one, it is because he has a track record of doing so. Remember when Hank Steinbrenner and John Henry got into a friendly war-of-words with one another back in Spring Training 2008? For whatever reason, Papelbon felt the need to butt in and say that the Yanks’ owner should stick to pencil-pushing. Steinbrenner’s reply was that an attack from the Sox closer was like being attacked by a mouse.

At last year’s All-Star Game in the final year at Yankee Stadium, Papelbon said that he should pitch the ninth inning rather than Mariano Rivera. “If I was managing the team, I would close,” Papelbon said at the time. “I'm not managing the team, so it don’t matter.” Papelbon later deferred from his comments, and in the end his own manager, Terry Francona, chose Pap to pitch the eighth (he gave up the tying run albeit unearned) while Rivera would toss 1.2 scoreless innings later on in the 15-inning affair.

Last winter, Papelbon signed a first-year arbitration record for a reliever, as he was awarded $6.25 million. Long before the deal was signed, Papelbon had said, “I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that standard needs to be set and I'm the one to set that standard.” Meanwhile, other Sox farm products Jon Lester, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia have signed long-term deals, while Papelbon looks prepared to go year-by-year with the arbitration process.

This past spring training, Papelbon commented on the dead issue of Manny Ramirez’s situation in Boston the previous summer. “We weren’t afraid to get rid of him,” Pap said. “It’s like cancer. That’s what he was. Cancer. He had to go. It sucked, but that was the only scenario that was going to work.”

Just this past June, Papelbon answered “Oh, of course,” after being asked if he would consider playing for the Yankees after his Boston days are over. Apparently no one taught Papelbon those textbook phrases such as, ‘Anything is possible in today’s business,’ or ‘So-and-so have a top-notch organization, but my focus right now is to help the Boston Red Sox win another world championship.’

No matter how you feel about the 28-year-old Sox closer, what he has accomplished on the field cannot be diminished. In 2006, he had a 0.92 ERA with 35 saves before a September shoulder injury. In 2007, he posted a 1.85 ERA with 37 saves, and he put up a 2.34 ERA with 41 saves last year. This season, he became the Sox all-time leader in saves, and currently has put up 29 saves with a 2.08 ERA. He was an American League All-Star all four years.

However, he has been notorious this season for putting too many runners on base. He never allowed more than 15 bases on balls in any season as a closer, but this season he’s already allowed 23. His WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched) from 2006-08 was 0.837. This year it is an alarming 1.308. To boot, it seems as if any secondary pitch has disappeared from his repertoire, as he now rarely goes to his split and the slider he spoke so much about has been nonexistent.

Seeing that Papelbon has set a precedent that he wants to be one of the highest-paid closers in the game, his Red Sox future is in serious question. He has two more arbitration years with Boston, and will become a free agent prior to the 2012 season. If his $6.25 million salary becomes $8 million next year and around $10 million in 2011, could Papelbon command a yearly salary in the $15 million range on the open market?

In recent years, it is becoming clearer that emptying the bank for a closer doesn’t always pay off. The Mets gave Wagner a 4-year, $43 million deal prior to the 2006 season, and he was very good until needing his Tommy John surgery. The Blue Jays gave BJ Ryan a 5-year, $47 million deal the same off-season, but Ryan got hurt and lost his velocity in 2007, and Toronto decided to eat his money and released him earlier this summer.

Given the Sox' success in developing the organization’s own relievers, it certainly seems as if it will make more sense to turn over Papelbon’s closer role to someone in-house, like the dominant Daniel Bard, rather than give Pap a record contract.

And if Epstein were to put Papelbon on the trade market, how much could the closer bring back in return? The interest for the Sox’ closer would surely be vast, and a package of three prospects could help the Sox in the future at positions like catcher, shortstop, and perhaps the outfield.

In the end, the two sides have gone great lengths for each other. For the Sox, Papelbon has made four All-Star teams and saved 142 games. His postseason numbers as a reliever are arguably the best in baseball history, as his 25.0 IP without allowing an earned run is a playoff record.

For Papelbon, the Sox in return gave him the record arbitration deal. They put him on their trademark shoulder strengthening program following the injury he suffered his rookie year. They limited his innings in 2007 and 2008 in efforts to keep him healthy, and management put enough quality arms around him this year to make Boston’s bullpen perhaps the best in baseball. They’re even trying to bring aboard a guy who has eight 30-plus save seasons under his belt.

Jonathan Papelbon has absurd capabilities as a one-inning stopper. Another dominant postseason performance in 2009 may mean there is no telling how much teams across baseball value his success. But at the end of the day, Papelbon also has a large, money-oriented ego. It is an ego that may have forced Sox execs to grow tiresome of the closer’s antics, and although he is under contract for two more years, there is no guaranteeing he will be wearing a Sox uniform even before he hits free agency after 2011.

-Mike Ghika





Published on August 24, 2009

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