Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

by Randy Booth on Mar 22, 2007 4:13 PM EDT in News

Jonathan Papelbon is going to be the closer for the Boston Red Sox in 2007. Despite claiming earlier in the off-season Papelbon would be a starter, the Red Sox announced today he would go back to his closer's role.

RedSox.com:

The Red Sox announced a resolution to their much-discussed closer dilemma with a retro decision following Thursday's exhibition game against the Phillies: Jonathan Papelbon will return to the role he was so masterful in a year ago.

Julian Tavarez, who did a solid job in the rotation when given the chance in September, will take Papelbon's starting slot.

I'm mixed about this. We now have a solid closer again -- maybe one of the best closer's in baseball. But can Julian Tavarez be our number five starter from day one? I don't think he can.

I think what this does is open the door for Jon Lester to recover. If Lester returns to form down in Pawtucket, he'll be called up quickly to fill a spot in the rotation. Odds are, that spot will be Tavarez's.

What does everyone else in Red Sox Nation think?

Update [2007-3-22 16:17:14 by Randy Booth]: Some quotes by Papelbon:

"I hadn’t been sleeping well all spring because I had this feeling that I wanted to close. In my heart, I had feelings for being a closer."

"This is something I want to do for the rest of my career. Hopefully, what (Mariano) Rivera did for the Yankees, I can do for the Red Sox."

He's very passionate, and that's a great thing for Sox fans.

Update [2007-3-22 16:33:9 by Randy Booth]: Our buddy Curt Schilling weighs in on the topic:

No it wasn’t a rash decision brought about by uncertainty. I can promise you there were many meetings involving many people that occurred before this took place.

Paps wanted to close because that’s where he felt he helped the team best, but he had no issues or problems being a starter either. He was going to do whatever role they asked of him.

I think the most important aspect, and what will be the most talked about part of this move is his health. One of the important points to note here is just how much smarter, and stronger he is, than he was last year.

(Hat tip to RhodySoxFever for the diary.)

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

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Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

Two words.........

Devern Hansack

Roger Clemens

by reversecursing on Mar 22, 2007 5:51 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

by dumhic on Mar 22, 2007 6:02 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

I'm not happy about this move, and I don't think it makes the Sox better. Top-of-the-rotation starters are MUCH more valuable than even the best closers. Boston is potentially losing 130 or so innings--and maybe 5 or 6 wins.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Mar 22, 2007 6:24 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

The bidding for Clemens between the Sox and Yanks is going to get disgusting. Personally, I don't think he is worth where the bidding will go.

by ReLaunch on Mar 22, 2007 6:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

I think it depends. If the Sox can get the MFY to bid, say, $20 million for what would amount to 15 or so starts, I think that would be very good. Figure at best, the difference between Clemens and whoever he would replace over the course of those 15 starts is no more that 2-3 wins at most -- I wouldn't mind seeing the Yanks pay an extra $6-7 million per win.

by RSNexile on Mar 22, 2007 7:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

I dont think the sox will be THAT over the top in the bidding for clemens. Lets be honest its not the money. If he wants to pitch for the sox he will.
Given that I dont think he will. Also i love this situation. We have snyder/tavarez/gabbard to start in the 5th spot till Jon Boy is ready. Lester is a warrior. Lets not forget he was the better prospect between him and paps.
Now he has a door. WE should all root for lester to be lights out for the PAW SOX and come up quickly.

by Alex being Alex on Mar 22, 2007 6:41 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

well, it's probaby good for my fantasy team. i am disappointed that he won't be pitching every fifth day, though.

couple questions -
i wonder how lester's health affected this decision? from what i heard, he looks real strong - maybe he'll be ready to fill the fifth spot sooner rather than later?

is this necessarily a season-long move? if one of the kids emerges, or someone else steps up, or cordero's asking price drops, could papelbon move back to the rotation? it seems keeping him on a relatively "fixed" closing schedule could set him to slide back into the rotation later on.

Just my two cents. Keep the change.

by tommy.otm on Mar 22, 2007 6:46 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

I said this in another post and everyone said, "oh don't worry, Pineiro, Timlin... someone will step up and everything will be fine. Well, I knew they wouldn't go through the season with one of them closing games. I can't understand what Theo has been saying, he said all spring that they were not going to change this in the near future. I think they were panicking, realizing that none of their guys with "closer potential" were developing into anything. Was this the plan all along? Were they pulling our leg knowing all along this was probable? I don't know, I don't even care any more, they like one player in one position one day and then they completely change around their philosophy.

Here's my only concern, what happens if there is an injury? Say what happened last year happens, they lose 2 starting pitchers for a time? On one hand I can see that that will open it up to the Lester, but it goes back to last year and trading away Arroyo, you really can never have enough pitching. I would have been happier if they had picked up a closer, kept Papelbon in the bullpen, but this is better than throwing Pineiro out their for every ninth inning.

by redsoxcoffeeguy on Mar 22, 2007 7:04 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

God, I'd love to hear Walter Johnson's reaction to management saying "we're not going to let him pitch one inning more than three games in a row" or "no 4-out saves," etc.

70 innings from a strong kid in his early 20s? What's the problem?

Pitchers today have become wusses, and management is to blame for coddling and fussing so much about pitch counts. Tiant threw more complete games in 75 than the entire Sox staff in 06, I do believe, and I'd love to have someone with his stuff in the current rotation.

by Hudson on Mar 22, 2007 8:13 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

This could be a 1-year stint. Schill might move on to another team in 2008, and Wakefield might decide to hang up the spikes.

We have Matsuzaka and Beckett guaranteed. Pencil Jon Lester into the rotation. Personally, I'd like to add Papelbon as well. We'll have to change Daisuke's nickname to Dice-J, so that we can have an All-J rotation. Yeah!

I don't think Hansen has the pitch repetoire to be a starter. He's got gas, and a couple other average or slightly plus pitches, as I understand. We have any number of young pitchers we can use the in bullpen. We also have Bowden and Buchholz on the way.

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Mar 22, 2007 8:35 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

Man, you can just ride the emotional roller coaster. It was fun to watch people learn this news yesterday, because the same pattern repeated itself over and over and over...

Papelbon to close?
YES!

Tavarez to the rotation?
...
...
um... okay I guess.

Whoosh.

Top Baseball Prospects and Fantasy Tools at ScoutingBook.com

by scoutingbook on Mar 23, 2007 5:23 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

I don't like this move. Since it's what Papelbon wants, then fine, but I feel he provides more potential value in the rotation. Hopefully Tavarez will thrive as the fifth starter, and we can eventually trade him to another team (Colorado?) for some prospects.

The pen will likely remain awful. Last year everyone struggled except for Papelbon. Now, if we get solid performances from three of the relief pitchers (other than Papelbon), then moving him to the pen would not have been necessary. If nobody but Paps is effective, then we'll continue to lose games in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, or when he is rested. Moving Paps to the pen does not make the pen any less of a crapshoot.

I agree with Soxdevil that this could be a 1-year stint. Papelbon has much more potential value as a starter, and (iirc) Bowden and Buchholz are at least a season or two away. Tavarez shouldn't be a long-term part of our rotation, and Wakefield and Schilling are both aging and declining. Once Hansen / Cox is ready, Papelbon should return to the rotation.

by 0157H7 on Mar 23, 2007 10:19 AM EDT 0 recs

Re: Papelbon to be Red Sox closer

As a one year stint I think this is a fine idea, not necessarily a great idea, but alright. However, what scares me is the type of language Paps is using, saying he wants to make a career doing this, that he wants to become what Mo was for the Yankees for years to come...that scares me because I think it is an awful idea to permenently make him a closer and lose the possibility of him becoming a dominant starter.

by Realistic on Mar 23, 2007 3:46 PM EDT 0 recs