A reunion between the playoff-contending Red Sox and their former closer, free agent Jonathan Papelbon, doesn’t appear to be in the offing, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Papelbon, whom the Nationals released last Saturday, hasn’t pitched in two-plus weeks (Aug. 6) and there’s concern within the Boston organization that he won’t have enough time to prepare for the rest of the season in the event they do pick him up. The Red Sox believe Papelbon would need at least a week-long tuneup in the minors if they were to sign him.
General manager Mike Hazen said earlier this week that the club was “just kind of in a wait-and-see” situation with Papelbon, whom manager John Farrell has spoken with since he hit the open market. Farrell also acknowledged then that team brass broached the idea of adding Papelbon.
“We’ve talked about it, there’s some real strong points to ’Pap’ that could be an addition here,” he said.
There wouldn’t be much financial risk in adding Papelbon, who would cost the Red Sox the prorated portion of the league minimum. But the 35-year-old is only in position to sign for a cheap sum because his effectiveness has dwindled, which caused the playoff-bound Nationals to drop him. In his final five appearances with the Nats, Papelbon’s ERA rose from 2.56 to 4.37 as he yielded nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. That’s a far cry from the Papelbon who pitched for the Red Sox from 2005-11. During that seven-year period, the 2003 fourth-round pick threw 429 1/3 frames and registered a 2.33 ERA, 10.67 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He also helped Boston to a World Series title in 2007 and converted a franchise-record 219 regular-season saves in 248 attempts – good for a sterling 88-plus percent success rate. However, Papelbon’s fastball velocity, strikeout and walk rates, and ground-ball percentage have all declined significantly since then.
Regardless of whether they bring back Papelbon, the Red Sox will have some questions at the back end of their bullpen. To name a trio of prominent ones, Junichi Tazawa has allowed seven earned runs over his past four appearances (two innings); July acquisition Fernando Abad hasn’t yet carried his success from Minnesota to Boston; and 41-year-old Koji Uehara hasn’t pitched since July 19 because of a pectoral strain. Even before landing on the disabled list, Uehara’s ERA was a career-worst 4.50 across 36 innings, during which he yielded eight home runs and posted a personal-low 19 percent ground-ball rate. Moreover, Uehara excelled at generating infield pop-ups in previous years, but that figure has dropped from 16.1 percent in 2015 to 8.2 percent this season.
As Mastrodonato notes, though, the Red Sox have potential in-house solutions in a pair of right-handers, Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly, and lefty Brian Johnson. Hembree is currently in the club’s bullpen, while Kelly and Johnson are candidates to come up when rosters expand in September.
does Paps want to pitch this year or not? seems like he doesn’t know that time is a stake here and he still haven’t made a decision .
I think the problem is that a team has to make him some kind of offer BEFORE he decides. No offers is the likely reason for no decision. He has worn out his welcome and no team in contention wants what the Nationals got during the stretch last year. Boston has had lots of people commenting, but not the one that matters. Dombrowski avoided him when the Tigers needed relief help, and the Phillies were giving him away. Boston’s pen is better then Detroit had then. I can’t see him all of a sudden having a change of heart on Pappelbon.
Can’t be a financial offer. What kind of offer?
Longer this goes, the more likely he signs with Cubs. They don’t have big league roster spot for him right now. So they might be waiting for rosters to expand. Cubs could also afford for his “minor league tuneup” to happen at big league level in September because of their huge lead. A few hiccups early from Pap won’t hurt them. But those same hiccups for the Red Sox might cost them a playoff spot.
Agreed
Wouldn’t that make him ineligible for postseason if he signed with the cubs after Aug 31st????
Heath Hembree is a righty…and I still think we should take a flyer on Pap….bullpen has been pretty ordinary recently
He’s probably waiting for another teams closer to get hurt.
Papelbon needs to accelerate his decision and the Sox should remain interested regardless. Our bullpen needs help.
With Abad being quite shaky, Barnes going thru a few rough patches, and Koji still hurt, his presence would’ve been welcomed in the sox pen
Rob Bradford said on weei that pap wanted to see what summer with his family is really like, since he never had one. He isn’t in any rush to sign, but wants a good situation if he does.
News flash: Pap discovers his family is his only option in the summer. No team has made him an offer.
Pretty much. Anything else is really just a face-saving effort. The likely scenario here is, no one wants Pap right now, but Pap doesn’t want to openly admit it.
I wonder if the President Haters in down in La , helping folks with his Millions .
Could you please expand your comment. Thanks.
Pap is history but Sox do need some help in Bull Pen. I remember the agony he put me thru before and do not need that again. Abad has been A bad pickup.. Kasawa has lost it .and Koji is not yesteryears Koji.. Sadly age and wear and tear has caught up with both pitchers.. Thanks for the memories,Guys.
*Bullpen
Couldn’t hurt to promise Pap some time as a closer when Kimbrel is unavailable.
It absolutely could hurt. Because, you know…he’s not very good anymore.
What he said
Padres should sign him this offseason and he will rebuild his value like Rodney did. He will then most likely end up on another team if he pitches well
Anybody tell Stinko Ocho that he isn’t eligible for post season play and is a free agent who got dumped so sitting at home isn’t doing yourself any favors.
For your information, Papelbon is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is attending personal matters related with the recent flood disaster there. As you would expect this personal situation is now more important than baseball.
What makes him ineligible for the postseason?
If he isnt add to someone big league roster before september 1st.