http://bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1376769&srvc=sports&position=4
Open market for Red Sox closer
Jonathan Papelbon’s free agency nearly at hand
By Scott Lauber | Saturday, October 29, 2011 |
http://www.bostonherald.com |
Boston Red Sox
Photo by Matt Stone
Let the offseason begin.
The celebratory bubbly barely had time to dry last night in St. Louis when the free agent field started taking shape. For the next five days, eligible players may negotiate only with their most recent team. By Thursday, though, the overwhelming majority will be free to seek offers from other clubs.
Jonathan Papelbon has been waiting for this moment.
The
Red Sox [team stats] closer has long stated his willingness to pitch under a string of one-year contracts, risking injury and other depreciation to his value, until he reached free agency. Now, at age 31 (next month) and coming off a dominating season, he’s finally able to test his worth on the open market.
If the Red Sox ever were resigned to letting Papelbon walk, they aren’t any longer. Not after closer-in-waiting Daniel Bard posted a 6.95 ERA in August and September, and Bobby Jenks suffered a series of health problems that limited him to only 19 appearances and may threaten his readiness for spring training.
Papelbon, meanwhile, struck out 12.2 batters per nine innings, his highest total since 2007. His strikeout-to-walk ratio rose to 8.70, the best it has been since 2008. He posted a 2.94 ERA, went 31-of-34 in save situations and matured into a clubhouse leader, according to former general manager
Theo Epstein.
And so, new GM Ben Cherington already has had “initial dialogue” with Papelbon’s agents and has expressed keen interest in retaining the All-Star closer. But he also knows there will be other suitors.
Thus, Cherington hinted this week at a contingency plan. He said the Red Sox have “a couple of people in-house capable of filling that role” and mentioned both Bard and Alfredo Aceves, although one may move to the starting rotation.
Jenks would be a closer option, too, but his status remains uncertain after being diagnosed late in the season with a pulmonary embolism. Cherington said yesterday that Jenks is making progress in his treatments and will be re-evaluated in early December.
At that point, it will be determined if Jenks will need surgery to remove two growths on his spine that were pressing on a nerve and causing the back pain that he experienced for most of the season.
“Closers can evolve out of nowhere sometimes,” Cherington said. “You don’t know who the next closers are. We need as many good pitchers on the staff as possible, and we’ll find a closer in that group.”
Cherington easily could’ve pointed to the St. Louis Cardinals, who went through four closers (Ryan Franklin, Mitchell Boggs, Eduardo Sanchez and Fernando Salas) before settling on Jason Motte in September. Franklin, the Opening Day closer, was released in June.
So, although the Red Sox hardly want a return to their disastrous closer-by-committee experiment of 2003, Epstein’s rookie year as GM, breaking the bank to retain Papelbon may not be essential in a market filled with potentially lower-cost options, including San Diego’s Heath Bell, Milwaukee’s Francisco Rodriguez and Philadelphia’s Ryan Madson.
Overall, though, team president
Larry Lucchino said in a WEEI interview yesterday that he’s “skeptical” of free agency after the past few seasons, when the Red Sox spent money on John Lackey, Carl Crawford, Mike Cameron and Jenks and got little return.
“One of the advantages of free agents that are coming from your clubhouse is that you know them really, really well,” Cherington said. “We know David (Ortiz) and Pap really well. They’re huge parts of the team. We’re going to have to see if there’s a contract that makes sense for them and for us, but we’d be a really good team if we have both of them back.”
That process officially begins today.
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