Boston May Field Offers for Papelbon

[Phil The Thrill]

The Red Sox have signed reliever Bobby Jenks, which the Boston Globe writes could open up the possibility of the team fielding offers for closer Jonathan Papelbon.

However, Boston doesn't appear to have made a decision on the right-hander.

"Sources indicated the Red Sox plan to keep Papelbon as their closer, with Jenks joining Daniel Bard in setup roles. That trio should be formidable, and help the Sox recover from having one of the worst bullpens in the American League last season," writes the Globe.

Source: RealGM

 

[Barcode]

I think that BOS has had feelers and/or some discussions to move Papelbon for a little bit. The high leverage 7th and 8th innings are more important than the closer's, it's simply too much $ for a 60 inning pitcher that looks like he's fading.

 

[Rios15]

I agree with Barcode. Closers are highly important but they can't be receiving too much on their salary to pitch 1 inning every few games.

 

[Mexi]

thats why closers and saves are overrated
games like barcode mentioned, are won and lost in the 7th, 8th inning when the big bats are up
then the closer comes in to face the 7-8-9 hitters

if they want to get rid of Papelbon, has to be for another bad contract

 

[Elite]

I can tell you right now saves and closers are far from overrated. If you have a truly dominant guy like Mariano that you're comfortable putting out there in any situation, it makes the biggest difference in the world in close games. We put him out there and it's been nearly automatic for the past 10 years.

 

[Mexi]

saves are extremely overrated

just because Brian Fuentes leads the league in saves doesnt mean i want him over mariano

look, you can enter a 5-0 game, with the bases loaded, 2 outs, 2 strikes on the hitter, and get a save

sometimes they're overvalued like KRod or Coco Cordero getting all that money


this is also what i mean. it'll be a 1 run ball game in the 7th. the defensive team is up 1, man on 1st and 2nd and 0 out, with the 3-4-5 hitters due up. what do managers do? they'll go get their middle relievers in the game. at this point in time, i think i want my best reliever up there. but some managers just go by the book and leave their best reliever sitting there during perhaps the most important part of the game


at the same time, when you have a guy like mariano at the back end, it's awesome. he's undervalued at times. once he retires, the yanks are in trouble. because like it or not, all closers suck at some point. Mo isnt human