Phillies sign Papelbon

[a700hitter]

My mind== blown.

I think Yeszir might be pulling our leg.:dunno:

[Palodios]

He's driving on the same highway as Mo like you said.

 

From 2006-2008, he was on Mo's path to greatness, but his stats--while very good-- have still dropped off significantly since then.

[a700hitter]

From 2006-2008' date=' he was on Mo's path to greatness, but his stats--while very good-- have still dropped off significantly since then.[/quote']Except for last year.

[iortiz]

I wish the FO would just man up one of these times and state that the guy was not in their plans. They let Damon take a beating from the fans and be booed mercilessly for years' date=' when the truth be told, they didn't want him. This case is even worse. They never presented Papelbon with any offer, nor did they make any effort to communicate to him that they were interested in keeping him.[/quote']

 

Yup.

 

It wasn't smart.

 

You don't do that to an ace like him in the position. And mostly, since he has proved to be solid in your eviorement which BTW is arguably the toughest in all baseball.

 

Hope Bard fills his shoes and soon.

[Palodios]

I think Yeszir might be pulling our leg.:dunno:

 

I know

[a700hitter]

Yup.

 

It wasn't smart.

 

You don't do that to an ace like him in the position in all baseball. And mostly, since he has proved to be solid in your eviorement which BTW is arguably the toughest in all baseball.

 

Hope Bard fills his shoes and soon.

Even if Bard fills Papelbon's shoes, we have no one to fill Bard's shoes.

[iortiz]

Even if Bard fills Papelbon's shoes' date=' we have no one to fill Bard's shoes.[/quote']

 

Aceves? But again, who would fill the 5th in the rotation.

 

Hell, this damage has collateral effects

[mvp 78]

Except for last year.

 

Contract year + Ortiz eyedrops

[iortiz]

"I'm the type of guy, I'm loyal to those who are loyal to me"

 

"This happened pretty quick, it really did," Papelbon said. "I was on the phone with my agents for a couple of days, and it happened pretty quick. Quicker than I thought. ... To come here was solely based on the guys showing interest in me here and [Phillies general manager] Ruben [Amaro Jr.] showing interest in me. I'm the type of guy, I'm loyal to those who are loyal to me. It really didn't boil down to going back to the Red Sox and seeing if they wanted me back. I knew these guys wanted me, so there was no hesitation."

 

Did Papelbon feel a lack of loyalty from the Red Sox?

 

"No, it wasn't that at all," he told a packed room of reporters in Philadelphia. "It was just the simple fact that the Phillies showed they were interested in me. I wanted to make this decision quick and get it over with. The Phillies showed the utmost loyalty to me. I didn't want to sit there and debate whether I should go back to Boston or come here. The Phillies showed they wanted me, so I showed the same respect."

 

I like the way this guy see business, plain and simple.

 

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111114&content_id=25970748&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos

[User Name]

The Sox were never going to sign Papelbon for that money. They don't believe in handing big multi-year contracts to relievers. It's been that way for years, so i don't know why Papelbon signing elsewhere is such a big surprise.

[mvp 78]

After seeing the press conference, it's clear Paps didn't want to come back. Can't really blame Cher-bear.

[a700hitter]

After seeing the press conference' date=' it's clear Paps didn't want to come back. Can't really blame Cher-bear.[/quote']I don't come to the same conclusion.

[SoxSport]

It's a tough call on what is actually going on--since the media doesn't talk about the inner workings of these dealings. And they might not even have the straight story.

 

Pap didn't get an offer from the Sox. It's easy to figure he thought they didn't want him (probably was correct). The way to send a message to somebody is to ignore them. My guess is the Phillies suddenly became a player for him when their ownership turned down Madson (or was it, turned down Boras--also the agent of the infamous J.D.Drew who is poison in Philly).

 

Organizations usually judge performance of their own based on the last three years. Pap has sucked two of the last three years. So has Papi. My guess is Papi goes, too, unless nobody wants him and the Sox get him cheap. Beltre, by the way, doesn't count, since his 3-year performance was on different teams.

[User Name]

Beltre also busted a nut, so he made more money off of empathy.

[jung]

Just reported that the Sox have contacted Cordero's agent. I could not see signing Cordero for more than 1 year and I am not even sure that works for what he made in 2011. Not sure it works at all.

[Soxfan1]

If we could bring in K-Rod, Cordero or Urbina relatively cheap I'd be very content with that. (Just kidding about Urbina) Good question: Who is more preferable out of the two Francisco's.

[seabeachfred]

I wish the FO would just man up one of these times and state that the guy was not in their plans. They let Damon take a beating from the fans and be booed mercilessly for years' date=' when the truth be told, they didn't want him. This case is even worse. They never presented Papelbon with any offer, nor did they make any effort to communicate to him that they were interested in keeping him.[/quote']

 

Aw come on 700, you're a smart guy and you know as well as I do why the Red Sox did it that way again. This way the front office can say that he rejected Boston, the Red Sox and the fans and make Paps look like the SOB in all of this. This has been their MO for years so why should any of us be surprised. When Papelbon comes to Boston in IL play the fans are already deeply in emotion that he deserted us and can let him have it. I'll bet you knew the answer before you even wrote your missive. Fortunately my friend many of us know what gives with the front office and they aren't fooling us at all.

[Spitball]

If we could bring in K-Rod' date=' Cordero or Urbina relatively cheap I'd be very content with that. (Just kidding about Urbina) Good question: Who is more preferable out of the two Francisco's.[/quote']

 

I believe Rodriguez now has Boras as his agent. He will probably sign for too much money as Boras seems to use smoke, mirrors, and possibly extortion to extract top dollar for his clients. Cordero should be much cheaper but has had a pretty steep drop in strikeout rate (and in the weak NL Central).

 

I will be shocked if the Sox don't save the money and turn the closer job over to Bard. It is the classic "let the high priced guy go because there is a cheaper inhouse option" move. We are not use to it in Boston, but most baseball teams operate that way.

[User Name]

I believe Rodriguez now has Boras as his agent. He will probably sign for too much money as boras seems to use smoke, mirrors, and possibly extortion to extract top dollar for his clients. Cordero should be much cheaper but has had a pretty steep strikeout rate in the NL Central.

 

I will be shocked if the Sox don't save the money and turn the closer job over to Bard. It is the classic "let the high priced guy go because there is a cheaper inhouse option" move. We are not use to it in Boston, but most baseball teams operate that way.

 

Even the Yankees do it from time to time, letting Damon go and handing LF over to Gardner.

[Spitball]

Even the Yankees do it from time to time' date=' letting Damon go and handing LF over to Gardner.[/quote']

 

Reality is hitting even the big spenders.

[NativeBostonian]

After sitting on this for a while, I don't see this hurting the Red Sox as much as I originally thought. This give the Sox more money to fill the biggest hole, starting pitching. The Phillies over paid. What did the Rays do without an elite closer. Oh yeah, beat us out for a wild-card spot. I think we will do just fine with Bard as our closer. We aren't that far removed, from when we thought, that he would, no doubt, replace Papelbon. I would go after a setup-man and take a chance on Bard. Setup-men are going to come a lot cheaper.

[YAZMAN]

After sitting on this for a while' date=' I don't see this hurting the Red Sox as much as I originally thought. This give the Sox more money to fill the biggest hole, starting pitching. The Phillies over paid. What did the Rays do without an elite closer. Oh yeah, beat us out for a wild-card spot. I think we will do just fine with Bard as our closer. We aren't that far removed, from when we thought, that he would, no doubt, replace Papelbon. I would go after a setup-man and take a chance on Bard. Setup-men are going to come a lot cheaper.[/quote']

 

Bard is roughly the same age as Papelbon was when he took over as closer. He's also arguably a better pitcher at this stage in his career.

[Bellhorn04]

Bard is roughly the same age as Papelbon was when he took over as closer. He's also arguably a better pitcher at this stage in his career.

 

Based on what numbers?

[seabeachfred]

To be perfectly honest, I wish Papelbon the best and hope he thrives in Philly. Frankly I don't believe the Red Sox had any real desire to resign him and in the FA era players are going to to where the money is, especially if there is NO money mentioned with a player's old team as was the case with Paps. It is now up to us to try and replace him the best we can and to also keep in mind that unless we sign some pretty good relievers who can get people out next season, Papelbon's exit could have a real ripple effect through our whole bullpen staff. I always like the guy and he came through for himself in his walk year with a damn good season. Time for the Red Sox to move on.

[a700hitter]

To be perfectly honest' date=' I wish Papelbon the best and hope he thrives in Philly. Frankly I don't believe the Red Sox had any real desire to resign him and in the FA era players are going to to where the money is, especially if there is NO money mentioned with a player's old team as was the case with Paps. It is now up to us to try and replace him the best we can and to also keep in mind that unless we sign some pretty good relievers who can get people out next season, Papelbon's exit could have a real ripple effect through our whole bullpen staff. I always like the guy and he came through for himself in his walk year with a damn good season. Time for the Red Sox to move on.[/quote']I agree fully. Not only did they not make an offer, they never communicated to him that they had an interest in making him an offer. THey kicked him to the curb, but let stories circulate that Papelbon never had any interest in staying with Boston. And this is why I never believe in or trust management, and I'm a fan of the players not the organization. The business organization is a high stakes business. I work for a business that has a market cap more than 30 times the value of the Sox. The business end has nothing worth rooting for.

[User Name]

Based on what numbers?

 

Papelbon ages 24-26: 1.62 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 10.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 291 ERA+, 0.7 HR/9.

 

Bard ages 24-26: 2.88 ERA, 1.056 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 154 ERA+, 0.7 HR/9.

 

Not even close. However, the difference in performance doesn't justify the 30 million difference between Papelbon's salary and Bard's (and a couple of relievers') salary during the length of his contract.

[Elktonnick]

I agree fully. Not only did they not make an offer' date=' they never communicated to him that they had an interest in making him an offer. THey kicked him to the curb, but let stories circulate that Papelbon never had any interest in staying with Boston. And this is why I never believe in or trust management, and I'm a fan of the players not the organization. The business organization is a high stakes business. I work for a business that has a market cap more than 30 times the value of the Sox. The business end has nothing worth rooting for.[/quote']

 

While I am no big fan of this FO (they certainly screwed up big time) I tend to agree that Paps had no interest in staying in Boston exactly for the reasons you stated above. If you were Paps or if I were in his shoes why would he or I want to stay in Boston. Boston is a great baseball town but Philly is a bigger media market. Besides he gets to join the team with the best starting rotation in baseball. He gets to pitch in the National League. Most of the batters there haven't seen him much. He know who his manager is going to be. The organization is more stable plus they committed to him early. Why would he have strung out the negotiations. Hell the sox have taken an eternity to select a manager, never mind have no idea who the pitching coach will be. No from Pap's point of view this was a no brainer.

[mvp 78]

Really, he wanted to go to a bigger market. Really?

 

Boston is ranked 5th

 

Philly is 4th

 

Not really much of a jump.

[iortiz]

I just watched another chapter of 'Beisbol esta noche' on ESPNDeportes and the panel which has ex-MLB latin players like Candy Maldonado and renown specialist in the Latin baseball media like Guillermo Celis and Fernando Alvarado were saying among other things that baseball is highly overpaid these days. They pointed several cases as Pujols, Reyes, Fielder, etc, and according with sources, media, etc. they agreed that these players, even considered elite players, don't deserve what their agents are asking. They put some numbers, injury tracks, ages, projections, etc.

 

What shocked me was when they went into Papelbon's case. They agreed that his case should be taken out of that bowl. They agreed with some points that some of us already posted.

 

They think that Papelbon is the best closer available and projected in the game for at least the next 3-4 years. They said that Philli got the next closer who could likely be around Mo's numbers since he is gonna face weaker offenses in the NL among other things (age, expirence, handle pressure, etc). Some of them believe that he is in his prime. They said that Paplbon was one of the few rescuable in our team in 2011. They said that he is a natural born winner. They believe that Papelbon was Phili's #1 priority. They believe that they didn't overpay him. BL they made look like Papelbon as SemiGod or something hahahaha.

The more I listened the more I went pissed off...

 

I think that these guys, Philli and some of us are not that crazy about this issue hehehehe

[User Name]

Yet a thousand other sportswriters disagree with that idea. Matter of opinion.