Let me take you back to last year, when Papelbon said before a late-April game in Yankee Stadium: “I’m here to get my fair share of money. My main priority is to stay healthy and be able to make money, not to go out and try and hurry up and win a championship this year. It’s not like I’m hurrying up and going back to the closers role because we have a good team this year and I’m going to blow it out and try and win as many games as we can (at any cost). No, it’s not going to happen. I’ve got a lot of moneyto be made in this game, whether it’s with Boston or not. My goal is to make sure I’m ready to play every day and to make money, and you can’t make money if you’re sitting on the bench. That’s the way I look at it.”
What I got out of that quote from Papelbon at the time was that he was clearly confident in his ability to perform, and stay healthy, each and every year until he becomes a free agent following the 2011 season. And this is why, as he recently stated, signing a long-term deal for security isn’t a priority. Nothing wrong with that. Papelbon has developed a routine to stay healthy, has the utmost confidence in it, and sees no reason why it won’t be working for him throughout his path to the big payday.
Papelbon also had referenced Ryan Howard’s deal in the Providence Journal-Bulletin yesterday. Howard’s $900,000 renewal agreement was a record for a player with two years service time. The difference is that few teams view the game’s best closers the same as the game’s best position players or starters. Minnesota’s Joe Nathan was one of the few closers to avoid years of arbitration by signing a two-year deal with a team option, which will pay him $6 million this season. In most organizations’ eyes, the longevity of closers are simply too unpredictable to commit big bucks to before it is absolutely necessary. Oakland’s Huston Street was considered for such a contract by the A’s, but the team decided to go another route, watched as Street was injured, and ended up heading into his arbitration years.
Colorado helped begin to break the mold of closers contracts by signing Manny Corpas to a deal potentially worth $24.775 million after Corpas’ mere one year and 74 days of service time.
Papelbon wants to change the dynamic, hoping to take a stand for both closers and the young players (Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia, etc.) who will be facing the same dilemma. You can’t blame him, but this might not be the ideal time to start the stand. I guess you never know unless you ask.
