Closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon and the Boston Red Sox have made history on Tuesday by agreeing to a 1-year, $6.25 million deal. This contract is the largest ever for a closing pitcher about to enter arbitration for the first time.
Papelbon is one of baseball’s top closers. He saved 41 games last season when he earned $800,000. He has 113 saves and a 1.84 ERA in 3½ seasons in Boston.
Papelbon’s ERA is the second lowest in major league history. He also is 2-0 with 7 saves in the postseason and hasn’t allowed a run in 25 innings.
2 Comments
Dominic, thanks for taking the time to post, but don’t you think that most readers of this blog heard about this signing at least 3 days ago? Can you try to add some substance to your posts? For example, why did Papelbon’s agents wait until Jenks signed? Would a pitcher with Papelbon’s numbers but not his outrageous postseason performance have got close to that amount? How did the team and player arrive at that figure? Who were the comparable players and what value was placed on the postseason stats and world series? If Cole Hamels went year-to-year while keeping consistent performance (but not assuming that the phillies win it again), how much of a discount did he maybe give the team for the security of a 3-year deal? What is the largest ever arbitration award for a 2nd-time arbitration eligible pitcher, etc.? Just trying to encourage you and Zak to get on Darren’s level.
Who is Papelbon’s Agent?