Philadelphia gambles on now ex-Boston closer by giving him big bucks

SHANE SMITH

ESPN.com has reported that that the Phillies are walking away from last season’s closer Ryan Madson in favor of Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon will be signing a 4 year 50 million dollar contract to close for the Phillies.

Last season Papelbon experienced a decent amount of success that seems to be lost in the haze of the Boston late season blowup. Pap grabbed 31 saves (which is solid considering Boston won less games in September than the Seahawks won in 2010) with only 3 blown saves.  He struck out 87 and had a respectable 2.94 ERA.

Despite the decent success Papelbon experienced last season it seems as though much of Red Sox Nation has become disenchanted with the 7 year vet. Papelbon ended the 2011 season on the sourest of notes when he blew the final game of the season against Baltimore and put the nail in the Sox proverbial coffin.

Since the end of the most pathetic final month in the history of baseball the Red Sox organization has cleaned house. There is a new GM, a search for a new manager, and it’s safe to say that a fair amount of the personnel will not be retained for the 2012 season. While reports had circulated that the Red Sox intend to re-sign Papelbon, all signs point to that being political if a deal with the Phillies has been struck this quickly.

Paying a relief pitcher big bucks is the biggest gamble a baseball organization can take (maybe a close second is buying a player from Asia), but the stars are aligned for Papelbon to rake in big. Pap will be 31 at the beginning of next season and brought in 12 million dollars with the Red Sox last year. He is the premier reliever on the market and the next best thing would be hefty Heath Bell (who should never leave the friendly confines of San Diego). The Phillies have not been afraid of paying for pitching lately after bringing in Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee in the past couple seasons.

Now that the door is shut on Papelbon’s tenure in Boston it will be interesting to see where the Sox turn now. Bard may be the future closer of the organization, but does the future begin now?

Photo: AP

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