Kuzul

Entering his final year of salary arbitration, Jonathan Papelbon will likely cash in on a big pay day following the 2011 season. 

However, with a declining skill set and Daniel Bard as the closer of the future, there is next to no chance he signs a long term deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Papelbon is due to make roughly $11 million for the coming season.

The presence of Bard and the acquisition of Bobby Jenks makes the possibility that Papelbon does not finish the year with the Red Sox all the more likely.

Without further delay here are 10 Jonathan Papelbon trades that make sense for the Boston Red Sox.

Begin Slideshow

With the new addition of former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks and a great 2010 from Daniel Bard, there has been a lot of speculation as to what will happen with Jonathan Papelbon.  There has been much talk of a trade, as Paps will likely test the market and walk after the season.  While these three arms could each close for the Sox in ’11 and see tremendous results, the team is best served with Papelbon remaining on the roster closing games. 

Bobby Jenks didn’t have the most encouraging final season in Chicago.  Fellow White Sox relievers Matt Thornton and Chris Sale both saw time at closer after Jenks had been relieved of that duty multiple times.  This resulted in heated confrontations between Jenks and manager Ozzie Guillen.  However, Jenks removal from the closer position may have been well deserved for the way Jenks was pitching at the time.  He saw the highest ERA of his career at 4.44 and the second highest WHIP at 1.367.  His 1-3 record was also the worst of his career, although closers aren’t necessarily judged off of stellar records.  While Jenks should be motivated coming into a new team and to prove the White Sox wrong, he may also question his ability to close games based on how he was jerked back in forth in Chicago.  Jenks serves the Sox best as a set up man in 2011.

In his first full season in a Red Sox uniform in 2010, Bard put up glistening numbers.  His 1.93 ERA in 74.2 innings was among the lowest on the team and he struck out 76 batters while recording a 1.004 WHIP.  These numbers had many fans feeling that if Bard was to close in 2011, the Sox wouldn’t lose anything if Papelbon was to be moved.  While Bard’s off speed pitches developed tremendously last season, one more year as a prime set up man would do Bard a lot of good.  Bard’s breaking pitches are still a work in progress.  Although his slider and curve were rather devastating in 2010, flying in at 83 MPH after a 99 MPH heater, these pitches will need to be perfected if he is to continue his current dominance as the team’s closer.    

While there is no question that he is being groomed as the closer of the future, the addition of Jenks adds some security to Bard’s situation.  If he should struggle in his second full season, Bard can be pushed up a little in the bullpen and Jenks can take over as the primary setup man, taking some pressure off of Bard.  The same can be said with newly signed Dan Wheeler.  These two signings provide depth to the Sox bullpen that wasn’t present in 2010, and it should only help Daniel Bard’s development.

With such viable closing options other than Jonathan Papelbon on the roster, continuity will be the most important thing in 2011.  One of the only things that could truly derail this team is a stirrup and inconsistency in the bullpen.  Despite a plethora of injuries last season, a shaky bullpen was arguably just as important of a factor in the Sox missing out on October baseball in 2010.  That is why it is important that Jonathan Papelbon remains the closer in 2011.

Dealing Papelbon at this point likely wouldn’t bring in a fair enough return to justify dealing him.  Paps is coming up on the last year of his contract, and he will likely make upwards of $13 million in his final season.  There aren’t many teams that can afford to take a $13 million chance on a one year closer.  The teams that can already sport names such as Rivera, Rodriguez, Marmol , and Feliz in their closer slot.  Papelbon is among a group of other Sox players who will hopefully perform at their highest level as they are in contract years.  If he can revert to his 2009 form and forget about 2010, Papelbon should remain a solid closing option for the Sox in 2011.  If it he somehow is worse this season than last, the Sox have padded themselves with the security to have Bard or Jenks close and move Paps to a setup role.  But this shift should only take place if it is 100 percent necessary.  Hopefully the new, added depth won’t cause manager Terry Francona to make a quicker shift if Paps should struggle.

Papelbon needs to remain the team’s closer for the 2011 season.  Shuffling the bullpen and assigning the closer role to a pitcher in Jenks who shaky last season, or a youngster in Bard who has never closed regularly before, is something that the Sox don’t need right now.  This team has a chance to make waves and compete for a World Series in 2011, and the bullpen is an integral factor in accomplishing this goal.  The Sox have done well to rebuild the pen, and keeping Papelbon as the closer will solidify the pen as one of the best in the A.L.  

This article can also be seen on SportsHaze.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

This is the newest feature I am going to be doing as we head towards fantasy drafts.  In an effort to target which closers could be in jeopardy of losing their jobs, who to target for vulture saves, etc., we will be breaking down each team’s bullpen.  Let’s kick things off with a look at the Red Sox:

The Closer: Jonathan Papelbon

Since assuming the Red Sox closer’s role in 2006, Papelbon has been one of the elite closing options in the league, totaling 188 saves (at least 35 a season).  However, after blowing eight saves in 2010 to go along with a career worst ERA (3.90) and WHIP (1.27), his leash will be extremely short in 2011.

Over the past two years, his control has been an issue (walk rates of 3.18 and 3.76), which helps to explain his increased WHIP (from 2006-2008 he had posted WHIPs of 0.78, 0.77 and 0.95).  Last season he also suffered from a below average strand rate of 68.7 percent, which helps to explain his higher ERA.  Prior to 2010 his worst ERA was 2.34.

His strikeout rate has been consistently above 10.0 per nine innings, which does help to offset things.  He also consistently works a lot of innings (67.0 innings or more in four of the past five seasons).

There certainly are enough positives to continue ranking him among the top 10 options, but you have to do so with an asterisk.  The Red Sox are built to win now, so the first time he has an extended slump could mark the end of his run as the team’s closer.

Next in Line: Daniel Bard, Bobby Jenks

Bard was electric over 74.2 innings in 2010 while posting a 1.93 ERA and 1.00 WHIP (Papelbon-esque numbers).  His K/9 was at 9.16, though with a fastball that averages close to 98 mph, seeing that number improve is extremely realistic.

His control was alright, with a walk rate of 3.62, and he certainly benefited from a .225 BABIP.  Still, with his strikeout rate, even if the latter regresses there he should be more than capable of posting a solid WHIP.

At 25 years old, he is the team’s future at the position.  The question is if the future is now.

Bobby Jenks, the former White Sox closer, could easily have something to say about that.  He was brought in to help set up for Papelbon, but with the Red Sox built to win, they could opt for his experience should Papelbon struggle.

Yes, he had a 4.44 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 2010, but he also suffered from some terrible luck (.368 BABIP, 65.4 percent strand rate).  He has a good strikeout rate (8.80 K/9 for his career) and solid control (2.90 BB/9 for his career).  There certainly is a good chance he rebounds and could post an extremely solid 2011 campaign.

The Rest: Dan Wheeler, Tim Wakefield, Michael Bowden, Scott Atchison, etc.

Given the three options at the top of the bullpen, no one here holds fantasy appeal.  Wheeler would be the sleeper, but it just seems unlikely he makes any type of major impact at the end of ballgames.

The Conclusion

While Jonathan Papelbon will open 2011 as the team’s closer, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see a change made at some point.  Jenks’ experience may win out as the next in line, but Bard’s ability is too much to overlook.  Bard is the long-term solution and if Papelbon does falter, I would expect the Red Sox to go with the hot hand.  Keep that in mind, but for now Jenks would appear to be the better handcuff.

What are your thoughts of Boston’s bullpen?  Will Papelbon hold the job for the entire 2011 season?  If not, who do you see getting the first chance to replace him?

**** Make sure to pre-order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****

Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 30 Outfielders
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• Top 15 Closers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First Round Breakdown

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Some people prefer to wait until late in their draft to acquire their fantasy closers, figuring that you can take some risks while also finding saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. 

Others like to use early- to mid-round picks in order to get an elite closer or two, hopefully stabilizing their standing in saves.  Which strategy is right is a debate for another day, but let’s look at how I currently rank the Top 15 closers heading into 2011:

1. Heath Bell – San Diego Padres
2. Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants
3. Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals
4. Neftali Feliz – Texas Rangers
5. Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees
6. Rafael Soriano – Free Agent
7. Jonathan Broxton – Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Andrew Bailey – Oakland Athletics
9. Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox
10. Francisco Rodriguez – New York Mets
11. Carlos Marmol – Chicago Cubs
12. Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins
13. Huston Street – Colorado Rockies
14. Jose Valverde – Detroit Tigers
15. J.J. Putz – Arizona Diamondbacks

Thoughts:

• Joe Nathan is a real wild card, but we all know what he is capable of doing. If he proves that he is healthy in Spring Training, he could easily perform as a top 10, and maybe even a top 5 option. Since 2004 he has had one season with an ERA above 2.10 and one season with a WHIP above 0.98. To say that he has the potential to be one of the elite and a steal on draft day is an understatement.
• Will the Rangers move Feliz to the rotation? I can’t see it after his success, but time will tell at this point.
• J.J. Putz will get an opportunity to rediscover his glory as a closer in Arizona. As long as he keeps his control in under (as he did in 2010), he should be a solid option as a second closer for fantasy owners.
• Mariano Rivera is the best closer ever to play the game, we all know that. At this point, is anyone really waiting for him to finally regress due to his age? He’s one of the elite and he should be considered as such until he finally decides to hang up his spikes.
• If you draft Jonathan Papelbon, you may want to grab Daniel Bard for your bench, just in case. I know Bobby Jenks was brought in, but Bard is still the likely replacement should something happen.
• If it wasn’t for his strikeout potential, I wouldn’t go near Carlos Marmol. However, he could easily lead all relief pitchers in strikeouts, which certainly helps to offset any potential problems his walk rate brings with him.

What are your thoughts on these rankings?  Whose too high?  Whose too low?

**** Make sure to pre-order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****

Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First-Round Breakdown

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As the Patriots and Celtics roll, the snow piles on and the Gonzalez/Crawford acquisitions finally begin to set in as reality, baseball seems a long way away.

But, in just 49 more days, pitchers and catchers report to spring training!

The Sox seemed to have slowed down their offseason moves. While they might be in the mix for some more relief help and/or another right-handed bat, the Sox should be pretty content in the fact that they’ve addressed their offseason needs while the New York Yankees have not.

This seems as good a time as any to publish a complete early season preview, projecting what the opening day roster would look like if the season started tomorrow.

Begin Slideshow

Jonathan Papelbon is gearing up for his sixth season as closer for the Boston Red Sox. The upcoming year will be the third straight that Papelbon has pitched on a one-year contract. Next fall, Papelbon will become a free agent for the first time in his career, and will presumably seek a long-term deal with a per annum rate of at least $10 million.

Given the team’s fiscal wariness, given Papelbon’s personal desires, given that Daniel Bard is waiting in the wings and given that the Red Sox are trying to add some late-inning depth to their bullpen, the following question becomes honestly legitimate: Will the Red Sox trade Jonathan Papelbon?

Before I answer that question, let’s size up Mr. Papelbon. “Paps” has long been a fan favorite in Boston, and he has never recorded fewer than 35 saves over the course of his career. He is a four-time all-star and a World Series champion. For all of his success though, the Red Sox, as I hinted at in the previous paragraph, are at a crossroads with their 30-year-old star reliever.

It all comes back to the man’s fastball. Papelbon’s success, thus far, has been tied to the pitch: A mid-to high-90’s four-seamer with decent late movement, both horizontally and vertically. Over the past two seasons, Papelbon has lost a little of the zip on his fastball, and, in what is perhaps a related development, he has thrown more splitters and sliders in the hopes of having hitters create swinging strikes with balls out of the zone. (Check out his charts on FanGraphs).

The results have been mixed. 2009 and 2010 were departures from the sterling efficiency that characterized Papelbon’s first three years as Boston’s closer. Papelbon issued 24 walks in 2009 and 28 last season. As a comparison, his season totals from 2005-2008 were 17, 13, 15, and eight. In 2009, Papelbon seemed to get away with his mistakes: He shaved half a run of his season ERA from 2008 even though his WHIP rose from 0.95 to 1.15.

In 2010, however, Papelbon’s control issues and inability to get through the ninth inning efficiently began to statistically show. His eight blown saves last year were a career high, as were his 3.90 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. As a comparison, Paplebon’s career numbers in those same categories are 2.22 and 1.03, respectively.

Papelbon has, however, been wise to reinvent himself as a pitcher, if that is indeed what he has been attempting, with his increased use of his splitter and slider and his decreased use of a definitively slower fastball. If he is able to develop even just one of those pitches in a true “plus pitch,” to use the parlance of scouting, Papelbon will continue to find success at the Major League level. Cutting down on those walks wouldn’t hurt, either.

But returning to the question central to this article: Will Boston trade Jonathan Papelbon? The answer, I am inclined to think, is no.

Boston will certainly not trade Papelbon over the winter, at any rate. With his off year in 2010, Papelbon’s trade value is low right now. A much more likely trade scenario would be for Paps to be dealt at the July trade deadline, when the demands for relief pitching is high and teams on the fringe of contention are looking to plug their gaps and make a push for October. (Milwaukee trading for CC Sabathia in July 2008 is a prime example of such a trend, albeit for starting pitching.)

However, Papelbon’s trade-ability also rests on his 2011 performance. If he is able to pitch closer to his career averages next season, not only would it make little sense for Boston to trade away a productive closer, it would up the level of offer which Boston would be willing to listen to. A strong 2011 would all but insure that Papelbon will be classified as a Type A free agent next winter. If the Red Sox, as expected, do offer Papelbon arbitration next year (before he of course refuses it to become a free agent and get paid like a king) then the team will receive two draft picks from the team that does sign Papelbon. A trade during the 2011 season for a Papelbon who is pitching well would have to either trump those two draft picks or dramatically resolve a possible weakness of the 2011 team. An offer involving a good young catcher, however, would probably pique the interest of Boston GM Theo Epstein, who does not appear ready to toss all of his eggs into one basket with Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

For all intents and purposes however, Papelbon is likely done in Boston after 2011, regardless of how he fares next season. I doubt the Sox will hear a trade offer they like, but I can’t imagine Papelbon accepting arbitration next winter with the avenue of free agency becoming available to him for the first time.

The Red Sox won’t extend Papelbon a serious long-term offer because they are confident in the abilities of Daniel Bard, the 25-year-old fireballer who has all but been officially named heir-apparent to Papelbon. Bard has pitched excellently as a set-up man ever since being called up the majors in May 2009. Bard sports a high-90’s four-seamer that he mixes in with a half-decent low-80’s slider and high-70’s slurve. He still has his control issues, but Bard seems to have all of the right tools, the right mindset and the durability to be a closer worthy of filling the shoes that Papelbon seems poised to leave.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Don’t believe what you have read about Bobby Jenks over the last couple of years—the former ChiSox closer has not lost his stuff. Jenks’ troubles in Chicago largely stemmed from a large dose of bad luck and an even larger menu of problems he had with his old boss, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

The righty still has pretty decent stuff, but it says here that his arrival does not necessarily signal an end to RHP Jonathan Papelbon’s tenure in Boston—as was conjectured by Peter Abraham in today’s Boston Globe.

My guess is that the Red Sox will go into arbitration with Pappy, then swallow hard and pay his salary—which will be in excess of eight figures after the arbitration award is made. But I don’t expect them to ship him elsewhere in the interim or to let him walk at the end of the 2011 season, at least not without making a concerted effort to get his name on a long-term deal.

The organization’s recent offer to Mariano Rivera doesn’t mean the team is ready to turn its back on Pappy. The bottom line is the Sox had a chance to add a Hall-of-Fame closer while simultaneously hurting the Yankees, and they would have been foolish not to do so, if at all possible.

But that kind of opportunity rarely presents itself and the team would have been foolish not to explore the possibility…and it doesn’t mean they have washed their hands of Papelbon all together.

Jenks will provide the club with insurance against injury (or continued decline) in the short-run and leverage (in negotiations) in the long-run, as well as a fall back position for 2012 if Papelbon should depart at the end of the 2011 season. Jenks has been promised the opportunity to compete for the closer’s role when and if Papelbon departs. But that doesn’t mean the club will usher Pappy out the door to make room for Jenks.

The front office was never enamored of Papelbon’s proclamations that he would eventually test free agency and seek to establish a record for the highest salary ever paid to a closer, nor were they pleased that he has thwarted their efforts to get his John Hancock on a long-term contract, a la Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.

But Pappy softened his stance last offseason after a rough ’09 and his historic playoff implosion, and it seems likely that he now understands he will never land a record-setting deal in free agency.

While Papelbon’s 2009 numbers appear pretty good (1-1, 1.85), a closer look reveals he struggled throughout the campaign:

His WHIP topped 1.00 (1.147) for the first time since his rookie season.

His OPS-against reached .600 (.600) for the first time since his rookie season.

His overall strike-percentage dipped to a career-low of 65 percent as his walks-per-9-innings-pitched surmounted 3.0 (3.2) for the first time since his rookie season.

His strikeout-to-walk ratio, which had ranged between 5.6 and 9.6 over the previous three years, slipped to a pedestrian 3.17—not exactly the stuff of an elite closer.

And then nearly every one of those numbers got worse in 2010 (with the exception of strike-percentage, which increased just one point, to 66 percent). He finished the year at 5-7, 3.90, with 37 saves (but had eight blown saves). So, does that mean the Red Sox are ready to turn things over to Jenks? Hardly!

Whether the club decides to make a long-term, big-money commitment to Papelbon will largely depend on how he performs in 2011. If he returns to the form he had in 2006-08, then it seems likely the Sox will attempt to get his name on a two- or three-year deal (with the club’s preference for a two-year deal).

As I stated earlier, Jenks numbers from 2010 look pretty bleak on their face: he finished 1-3, with a career-low 27 saves and a 4.44 ERA. He also posted a whopping 1.367 WHIP. The bloated ERA can be explained (in large part) by a .354 BABIP… otherwise, none of his numbers are dramatically different from his career numbers.

He has had a career-long battle with bases on balls (2.9/9 IP), and his career OPS is .642. His strike-percentage has declined each of the last four seasons (68-67-66-65%), but he has never posted a mark of 70 percent or above (which Pappy did in both 2007 and 2008). Jenks’ career strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.04.

By comparison, Papelbon has better career numbers across the board and, in fact, many of his worst-year numbers are comparable to Jenks’s career AVERAGES—which means that even at his worst Papelbon offers what Jenks has done, on average—throughout his entire career.

THAT is the guy you think Theo and Company want to transition to? It says here the answer to that question is “no,” and that if the answer is “yes” then the Sox front office is operating with flawed logic.

It is my theory that the Red Sox would have moved on to Rivera, for obvious reasons. But lacking that, GM Theo Epstein reverted back into chess-mode—strategizing five moves ahead of everyone else. As a keen strategist, Theo has provided his ballclub with insurance and leverage.

Jenks provides the team with both, and lengthens the bullpen nicely—but he does not provide them with a replacement for Papelbon (at least not if they want to win the World Series in 2011).

I believe the Red Sox will wait to see how Papelbon performs in his contract year. And, as has been the organizational norm under this ownership and management, if he re-gains his form of a few years ago the club will approach him with a multi-year deal at the end of the season—on THEIR terms.

Then it will be up to Pappy whether he wants to stay and compete for a world championship each year, or whether he wants to move on for a bigger contract.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

First, talk of a possible Jeter offer and now a reported proposal to have the Sandman enter Fenway. Say it ain’t so Mo, say it ain’t so. Apparently it is so but it is not coming to fruition.

It is being reported that the Red Sox have tendered an offer to closer Jonathon Papelbon as of late Thursday night. It looks like the right-handed fireballer will be Shipping Up to Boston for yet another season of America’s pasttime.

The question is: which Papelbon will take the mound? The J-Pap that was so lights out in 2007 that he was deemed untouchable, or the guy that was called from the pen last season to blow a career-high eight saves and post a 3.90 ERA?

Not sure what the answer to this conundrum might be? Neither are the Red Sox. That’s why they reportedly offered Yankee closer Mariano Rivera a two-year, $30 million contract.

The Yankees matched that offer, and Rivera chose to stay in the House That George Built. Left out in the cold with no Rivera, the Sox had little choice but to tender Papelbon, who is up for arbitration, a contract. But did they, in fact, actually have a choice?

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you Daniel Bard, the “closer in waiting.” He has an arm as strong as Paps, and an ability that is on the upswing rather than the decline. So why do the Sox feel that they have to bring back Jonathan?

The answer may not have to do with how good Bard is or how bad a season Papelbon had. It may have more to do with the rest of the Red Sox bullpen.

It is the notion of all clubs to reach the World Series every year (if this is not the goal than you don’t belong in your job). And because playing late into October is the driving force behind all decisions made in the off-season, for purposes of this column let us take a look at the 2007 World Champion Red Sox team and compare them to last year’s team to see why or why not Papelbon is needed in 2011.

In 2007, Jonathan Papelbon was arguably the best closer in the league. He was lights out. He was that guy, you know the one. The guy that when Tito (Terry Francona) called him to the mound in the 9^th you could easily turn the TV off knowing with absolute certainty that the Sox just put another W in the win column. But in looking a little deeper, we see what contributed to Papelbon’s ’07 success.

Hideki Okajima was Papelbon’s 8^th inning set-up man. A rookie from Japan, he was for all intents and purposes, a secondary thought to the $100 million man, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Though Dice-K was to anchor a stellar starting rotation followed by Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling and the ageless Tim Wakefield, it was Oki that dropped the collective jaw of Red Sox Nation that season.

He became an All-Star in his rookie year. He has a crazy, unorthodox wind-up and delivery that disguises his pitches well, and leaves him staring at third base upon release of the ball.

Who knows how this kid could pick his spots so accurately by staring at Mike Lowell instead of Varitek’s catching mitt? Bottom line, though, is that he could, did and thus he was lights out in the eighth inning, allowing everyone in Red Sox Nation to turn the TV off when Tito made the move to bring in Hideki.

In 2007, we only had to watch seven and sometimes six innings of baseball in order to see a Red Sox win. We, as fans, were given the gift of time. Two whole innings of time to do with what we pleased, knowing that Oki and Pap had the game wrapped up.

Add Josh Beckett’s year (20-7 with 194 Ks) with veteran Mike Timlin at the ready whenever the starters couldn’t go deep, and that equaled a pitching staff that put the Red Sox bats in a position to always win a game.

So, while baseball is a team sport filled with individual statistics, plays and accolades, I submit that the Sox starting pitching always kept them in every game, allowing their bats to start working. This, in turn, caused Terry Francona to go to his pen and retrieve Hideki Okajima in the 8^th.

But I will solidly argue that it was the play of Okajima and his stellar season, gave birth to Jonathan Papelbon’s 37 saves and 1.85 ERA. When you have a set-up man who leaves nobody on base and gets you to the 9^th quickly and efficiently, as a closer, you have a much easier job.

Now let’s take a look at Papelbon’s previous season. Pap was still one of the game’s best closers. His problem was that he was wildly inconsistent. When he was on, he was on but when he blew a save, man, did he really blow it. It wasn’t even close.

Red Sox fans could no longer automatically turn off the TV when he was called into the game. We had to sit and suffer through humiliating three-run 9^th inning blown saves. And even when he won, we had to endure him giving up a hit or two and/or put a couple guys on base.

It was like the game of baseball was too easy for someone of his skill level and he needed to spice things up a bit in order to present himself with a challenge. Sort of like a “handicap” for closers. So why the downfall?

Did the starting pitching give the bats a chance to get ahead in most games? Beckett was injured for a majority of the year, and when he wasn’t he was not his normal dominant self. Dice-K has proved to be the $100 million bust. Clay Buchholz finally had a solid breakout year, but was also injured for a portion of the season, thus leaving Jon Lester as our only consistent part of the starting rotation.

And what about the bats of the 2010 Red Sox? They lost slugger Jason Bay to the Mets. Mike Lowell was injured for most of the year and replaced at third by Adrian Beltre. Beltre is not a power hitter, but he had an amazing year at the plate nonetheless.

David Ortiz was missing for the first couple months of the year. Dustin Pedroia was out literally forever (again, literally is defined as figuratively unless otherwise stated) as well as leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury.

Mike Cameron was injured for quite a while, and monster bat Kevin Youkilis was injured for a portion of the season as well. Catcher and part-time first baseman Victor Martinez brought his monster swing to Boston, and that kid displayed power from both sides of the plate, right up until he got injured as well.

So Terry Francona was working with a patchwork lineup that couldn’t consistently put runs on the board the way Red Sox teams of old were once able to do.

With this in mind, Tito would have to go to his bullpen early in many games. Plus, by the time the sixth and seventh inning came around and Hideki Okajima was called into the game, he brought with him an ERA around 6.00 and a career-low 33 strikeouts. That’s not going to impress anyone in America or Japan.

There were few times that the Sox were able to take a lead past the seventh, and we were usually only ahead by a slim margin. But it was here, in the 8^th inning, where the Sox pitching staff truly shined. Enter Daniel Bard.

Bard was Papelbon of 2007. He was lights out. He was automatic. He allowed us, as fans, to turn off the TV in the 8^th inning knowing in our heart of hearts that we could turn the TV back on in the 9^th and have the opportunity to watch Papelbon blow the save.

I have no idea what the bottom line is here. I am not sure I even have a point except to say that for a sport that showcases such individualism, baseball, in my humble opinion, needs all of the gears to (follow me here) independently work collectively (let it marinate a moment) in order to turn the wheel.

It is difficult to blame Papelbon alone for his worst statistical year in a Sox uniform. However, in the same breath, with a guy like Daniel Bard waiting in the wings and/or Mariano Rivera available for signing, why would you take another $10 million-plus chance on Jonathan Papelbon?

It seems that the Red Sox did take that chance and hopefully, it will pay off for them. Hopefully, he will not pull a Jay Cutler and be bitter about the courting of Mo. But most importantly, let us hope he will make last year’s performance stick in the record books as his worst season in the majors.

But let’s face it, what in the hell do I know? If I were so smart I would be pulling the strings for Theo Epstein and not writing about the decisions he gets paid the big bucks to actually make. And if you are wondering, yes, it is comfortable in my armchair general manager seat.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The hot stove is just starting to warm, and the Red Sox are making headlines alongside their rival Yankees. Not only are the Red Sox somewhat in the running for Cliff Lee (more likely just to up the price), they apparently were in the Mariano Rivera race. Whereas the Yankees invited captain Derek Jeter to test the free agent market, they made no such indications with Rivera, and for this exact reason.

Although they won in the end, they did not want a team such as Boston (who has the money) to bid on Rivera, because he really is worth that much to them. Not only does this create a stir within the Yankee fanbase, but it also makes you wonder: why would the Red Sox do this when Jonathan Papelbon is there?

Here’s why.

Begin Slideshow

This season you saw some new names with the Boston Red Sox. So what names will be heard again when Opening Day comes? This is who to expect in Boston for the 2011 MLB season. This also looks at the Derek Jeter rumor around the middle, and what you should expect of the Yankee captain. The Red Sox struggled due to injury in 2010, but expect many players to return to form, and see some players attempt to kick start their career once again. Expect Boston to make a few key moves to cover their needs, which range from relief pitching, to outfield, and of course the corners of the infield are a hot topic.

Begin Slideshow