If the Cubs do ultimately pursue Jonathan Papelbon following his release from the Nationals, as has been speculated upon, lefty Jon Lester would endorse the move, he tells ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers. “He is crazy,” Lester joked, “but he’s no crazier than the rest of us. He just gets a bad rap for what happened in the dugout. Knowing Papelbon, I’ve always had good things to say about him as a teammate, how he respects the game and how he goes about his business. People are quick to jump to the conclusions based on one event. I think he’s a great teammate.” The event to which Lester is alluding, of course, is last year’s altercation with former teammate Bryce Harper, during which Papelbon placed his hands around Harper’s throat in a dugout argument. Rogers points out that Papelbon has been effective when afforded multiple days of rest between his appearances but has struggled otherwise — especially when pitching in consecutive games. Whether he’d be an upgrade at all for the Cubs is debatable, of course, but the loss of Pedro Strop and recent implosions by Carl Edwards and Hector Rondon have left Chicago’s setup corps appearing vulnerable.
More from the division…
- Cardinals setup man Kevin Siegrist was pulled from last night’s game due to what he terms a “deadish feeling” in his left arm, writes MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Manager Mike Matheny called the decision to lift his left-hander from the game precautionary, adding that he’s hopeful that the team’s three scheduled off-days over the next eight days will give Siegrist’s arm a chance to recover. Siegrist missed two weeks at the beginning of July due to mononucleosis and acknowledged after last night’s game that it’s been difficult to get his arm back into shape. As Langosch points out, he’s made 50 appearances this season after leading the Majors with 81 appearances last season (plus another three in the playoffs). The Cards picked up lefty Zach Duke prior to the non-waiver deadline, which gives Matheny a left-handed alternative, but Siegrist remains a vital component of the St. Louis relief corps.
- The Reds have yet to firmly decide whether Brandon Finnegan’s long-term future is in the rotation or in the bullpen, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Manager Bryan Price told Buchanan over the weekend that the final seven or eight weeks of the season will be used to continue the club’s evaluation of Finnegan, who currently has a 4.45 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate in 129 1/3 innings. ERA estimators such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA all cast a less-favorable picture, pegging Finnegan well north of the 5.00 mark. “Based on what we have in our system, what we begin the year with next year, will we win more games with him as a starter or a reliever?” Price asked rhetorically. “I can say from my perspective that hasn’t been answered.” Buchanan points out that Anthony DeSclafani and Homer Bailey are guaranteed rotation spots in 2017, and right-hander Dan Straily has likely earned a place in the starting five as well. The Reds will also have a plethora of young arms to consider, including Robert Stephenson, Amir Garrett, Rookie Davis, John Lamb and Cody Reed. Right-handers Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, too, could re-enter that mix, though each is pitching well out of the ’pen right now and may remain there long-term.
Anybody think Paps could end up in Boston?
Never mind I forgot I asked the same question the other day
2016 Cubs, a few young kids mixed with leftovers from the Sox
And Rays
Welcome to MLB, Leo…
And cardinals
More than a few young kids I would say. I doubt Lester and Lackey will be there in a few years.
Lester has 5 more years left buddy. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Lackey is signed through 2017
Papelbon is a cancer and would only hurt the cubs.
Hopefully Siegrist is OK
I think, based on what was written, that there is nothing wrong with Seigrist other than trying to get the strength back from the effects of what the mono did. Mono will zap all energy from you. He probably had difficulty in lifting a spoon the past two weeks.
As much as I hate Papelbon, there’s no denying there is some talent there and he has post season experience. And our bullpen has blown two games in a row right now…
Hang up the phone, Theo, you’re drunk.
Theo loves any Red Sox sure he will want him.
Yup.
I think there’s three destinations for him. Chicago, Boston or the New York Yankees. If there’s one thing the Yankees love to do it’s pick up former star Red Sox at the end of their careers!
Yankees are rebuilding. There’s no point in clogging up the roster. And, regardless, the possibility isn’t exactly appetizing.
That means absolutely nothing when we’re talking about a guy that would come with that much experience for league minimum.
Why? He’s not better than Betances, and he’s never been happy being anything other than “the guy” so you don’t know how he would fit on the roster. You would need to make room on the 25 and 40 man roster, which might mean cutting someone with more potential loose. And, while it’s not impossible that the Yankees could contend for the last Wild Card, it’s really unlikely, and Papelbon has only potential present value, since he’s a free agent after this year. I’m sure there are teams that could benefit from Papelbon if he would just return to being passable, but the Yankees have little to gain.
Yankees have no use for any pending free agents no matter how good they might be. If they wanted to contend this year they wouldn’t have traded Chapman. Period.
There’s little to no chance NY would sign Paps. Effectiveness aside, his presence flies in the face of what the Yankees are doing now.
I’m sure the last thing Cashman and Girardi (Hal, too, for that matter) want is his personality and attitude around the young guys that will keep coming up from the minors.
The remaining vets wouldn’t go for it either, I’m sure.
Who else is looking forward to Papelbon throwing behind Harper’s head in the playoffs?
Or Harper shooting a frozen rope through the box at Pap’s head…
Ha! I hate the guy (papelbon) and everything he has chosen to ‘stand for’, but there seems to be real interest by the cubs (ugh)
Your comment is absolutely hilarious!
Thank you.
I think Finnegan should have a much better chance of being in the starting rotation for the Reds in 2017 than Bryan Price should have of being the manager of the Reds in 2017.
Agreed. The Reds do have a lot of pitching ready to arrive soon, but Finnegan has some good stuff and could be a TOR pitcher if he makes the right adjustments. The Reds will definitely not be competing next year. They shouldn’t give up on him as a starter just yet.
Of course the Cubs would try to get him Lmfaooo they’re bums
How does this even start to make sense?
Pap’s is too much a distraction on a winning Team, The guy got too much baggage to really balance any help he can give out of a Bullpen ,
The Phillies pitcher Gomez would be more Helpful for contenders seeking Bullpen Help, and would be relatively cheap .
The Cubs need God, not Jonathan Papelbon!
Yeah those bums are 30 over 500…. What you got?
Rangers
I’m ready to puke with the over-abundance of coverage/exposure the Cubs have gotten this year for one simple reason: I’m from the same city as Mr. Maddon. Great manager, good guy in and out of the dugout/mngr’s office.
There are more people here that went from rooting for the Angels to the Cubs (TB in between) than one can imagine. There’s a guy I work with who WAS a lifelong Pirates fan until Maddon began wining in TB. Pitts is a contender and he could care less ONLY because JM is from here.
I hate the bandwagon and the fair-weather fans. I’d be happy to see him get them a WS trophy; but would enjoy it just the same if Chicago extends the drought.
JM is not from Pittsburgh, he’s from 4 hours away. Might as well say he’s from Philly, Baltimore, New York or even DC, all closer to his hometown.
Pap had every reason to call Harper out for being a little brat and pouting the way he did, not to mention not even making it halfway down the first baseline due to his pouting. As for the fight, well, tempers get flared and it was Harper being a crybaby and begging for it so I applaud Pap for calling out his team mate – yes, shoulda been the manager but just the same. Heat of the moment baby. I’m all for seeing if he’s got anything left in the tank to help our struggling pen outta the mess we’re in.