Dojji

No way. Sorry, we might go year to year for Papi for another few years, but we shouldn't tie ourselves to a 36 ear old DH for multiple seasons. It's time to move on and let him go prove us wrong for a few years with a marginal team while we bring on some offensive prospects like Kalish, Middlebrooks and Lavarnway -- which will be a whole heck of a lot easier to do with the DH spot open.

Reminds me more of Mike Moustakas.

His defense is considered plus I believe. This is Soxprospects' take on his glove Sounds pretty Lowellish, although he'd have to take more walks to really earn a Lowell comp. Still, apparently that's an extreme arm and high-end hands at a position that demands both, so hey, not bad. Kid runs faster than Lowell anyway, who was a turtle even before the labrum tear.

Most likely we're looking at a middle ground somewhere in the range of Garrett Atkins back when he was good. Also, Crede was a fine 3B before his health caught up with him. That wouldn't be a bad result with Middlebrooks. I think he can do better, but that's neither here nor there. Actually you know a guy who might make an interesting comp is one Mike Lowell. He also wasn't the most patient guy, and his good OBP tended to be driven by his batting average. Pre-injury Lowell was a star caliber player, and a target I wouldn't mind WMB shooting for.

I have one battleweathered old red Sox hat that's seen the bottom of too many storage totes as it's gone back and forth with me. The only kinda pink hat that's acceptable is a red Red Sox hat that's faded in the sun.

and quite probably the year after as well, if the team is concerned at all about his hitting discipline.

Our next 3B is quite likely Jed Lowrie, but Middlebrooks is definitely on the horizon. He might have a couple Reddick-line false starts though, he's not the most disciplined hitter. Very very talented young third baseman and I can't want to see him in the bigs. Rolen-like ceiling IMHO though probably with a somewhat lower OBP (~.330-.340). This kid's gonna be a pure stud if he clicks.

Yes I do, this is a forum, not one of us is contractually obligated to respond to you. Considering your handle and the attitude you've already shown here, you're on moderately thin ice as it is, and I know a thing or two about thin ice. Don't push your luck.

Noncontenders, and the Rockies as a matter of policy don't even sign high end FA's. You are seriously reaching here.

Because goodess knows, that's the standard whereby any baseball player, regardless of position, should be judged. Rarely for no reason. Papelbon is fully healthy, in his prime, and has command of all the stuff he ever had. This is not an Eric Gagne situation. Who might that be? Since it's clearly not Dan Bard, who has well documented head issues thaqt ended his career as a starter in 06, and has trouble pitching on the road, I'm curious whether you think we'll promote Albers or Aceves. Not to mention, Dan Bard's command is... well, it's just not not Papelbon's command. He has gotten much better there over the last little while but... Stabilize the rotation? As things stand we have 6 contracts going into the end of this year for 5 rotation spots. It's been an absolute money sink. IF anything we should be hoping to clear some salary away from the rotation over the next few years. This isn't the Rays. We can pay for a guy who's playing at a level that will be troublesome to quickly replace, and Papelbon easily fits that description.

Axford. Marmol The one legitimate possibility, but they don't tend to buy the closer thing as a group, or at least haven't done so in the past. I see them going for a middle of the road guy like Rauch or Dotel and spending the big money on starting pitching or a corner OF. Walden Papelbon will not sign with a rebuilding team. Name more.

By who? All the big market teams that would normally be a threat are either cash strapped, rebuilding, or have a guy. And the market is going to be saturated with quality high end RP arms, meaning that the highest-end guy is going to have to compete with "better values," which wouldn't matter so much for SP or position players, but we're talking about a relief pitcher here. The Yankees aren't going bring in someone that high-profile behind Rivera, they'd have a riot on their hands, they're stuck with that situation for at least 1 more year, and probably most of 'em don't mind one bit. They'll probably bring in a guy like Valverde instead who's not a threat to Mo if both are helpful but is a viable replacement. So who's really going to compete with the Sox for Papelbon? The Tigers are the only team out there that's in position to make a move, and they're not big "elite closer" type of team. I have them pegged as Dotel's next team. They're gonna look for a quality pitcher to replace Valverde, but they're not gonna bust the bank on a reliever, it wouldn't be like that GM. The rest of the teams that have the open role and the cash aren't contenders, I can't see Papelbon taking them seriously (teams like the Jays, O's, White Sox, Mariners, etc.)

Don't forget the Pocket Ace. Guy with a fastball like his can strike out more people if he isn't half stretched out like he has had to be this year. Put Aceves in a 1 inning role and he could be a decent power guy himself -- but I will say that as one of the rare throwback multi inning relievers who is actually effective, he's incredibly valuable as is.

If having to face Mariano every year hasn't taught this team what an elite closer can do, it's time for me to go become a Royals fan or something.

Papelbon is not a Boras client. His agents are the Levinsons

But it's not the same return. It's a World Series return and many other bites at the apple.

Because winning a championship is as simple as ordering a burger. They won once with those guys and put themselves in position to win more times. That's about all you can ask.

In fairness, we did get a couple really great years out of Delcarmen.

Yes. 5 years and a championship later -- a championship that Papelbon in particular played a large role on.

Let's not get Drew Bledsoe's disease with this guy. The "if only" game is for losers. Besides, he had a good outing even with those missed calls. He's a competent middle of the rotation guy who needs to pitch deeper into games to really be effective. We didn't give up anything that difficult to replace to get him, so we don't expect ace type performances out of him.