Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon blew his sixth save of the season Thursday afternoon against the Blue Jays. Six blown saves ties a career high for the right-hander with a whopping 46 games left in the season. Blown saves always hurt, but Thursday’s was as bad as they get. John Lackey, who has been inconsistent this season for Boston to say the least, put together eight innings of outstanding work and left the game with a 5-3 lead in the ninth after surrendering a home run to Jose Bautista. The Red Sox appeared to have a much-needed sweep of the Blue Jays on lock.
In came Pap and down went the game. He saw three runners cross the plate, one of which was ultimately allowed by Daniel Bard. The man who once called Manny Ramirez a cancer in the clubhouse has become a cancer on the diamond. What was particularly surprising about Thursday’s game was that for maybe the first time ever, Terry Francona yanked Papelbon before he had a chance to complete his implosion. That’s as strong a message as any I’ve seen all season from the Red Sox manager. Francona’s known across baseball as a player’s manager, and he almost always lets his team live or die on the arm of his closer in a save situation.
Apparently Tito had seen enough. After Papelbon allowed the Blue Jays to tie the game at 5-5, he went to the guy who is likely his closer of the future in Daniel Bard. Bard allowed a sacrifice fly and the Blue Jays walked off with the win, but obviously there’s nothing more he could have done in that particular situation.
Papelbon has never been shy about wanting to be paid. He’s had no problem going year-by-year and taking his arbitration check, and he’s made good money doing it. Despite the fact that he’s having a horrible year by his and the Red Sox’s standards, he’s probably headed for a payday of $10 million-plus when he hits arbitration again this off-season. That raises the obvious issue of what Theo Epstein is going to do with him.
Papelbon’s stock is plummeting. Although he’s on pace for his fifth straight 35-save season, his ERA has ballooned to a career-high 3.26. His fastball lacks zip and he’s no longer blowing away hitters. If the Red Sox were to try and trade Papelbon this off-season — before he’s eligible to hit free agency after the 2011 season — they probably wouldn’t get much. Teams know the Red Sox are committed to Bard being their closer of the future. Pap’s going to want a huge paycheck and there’s very few closers that deserve one. He used to be one of them. I’m not so sure anymore.
Everyone likes to think they can be a GM, myself included. That being said, here’s what I would do. I’d dump Papelbon for a good prospect, if possible, and commit to Bard going forward. Something tells me Jacoby Ellsbury isn’t well-liked by his teammates anymore after he seemingly nursed an injury for the entire first half of the season and then some. If that’s the case, I’d trade him for prospects also.
Then, I’d take those prospects and make the Padres an offer they can’t refuse for Adrian Gonzalez. The Red Sox need a big bat for the middle of their order. They missed out on Teixeira and Adrian Beltre is playing his way out of town with a monster year. A guy named Scott Boras represents Beltre, and at his age with the numbers he’s putting together this season, Boras will start the bidding at 5 years, $100 million. Gonzalez makes the most sense and always has. Epstein needs to make it happen and if trading his faltering closer helps get it done, it’s a no-brainer. Unless of course the Red Sox win the World Series and Papelbon dominates throughout the playoffs. I’ll tell you what: check back with me if something like that happens.
