Normally just an assumed bodily function for most (like breathing), Jonathan Papelbon thinking the same thing as his brain is actually quite rare. The Red Sox closer, who perhaps best represents the reason non-Boston sports fans hate Boston sports teams (“WICKED PISSAH ... Wait, what you say?!“), is seemingly headed for arbitration with the Red Sox. They did this last year, and he received a one-year contract for $6.25 million. This time around, he could be awarded as much as $10 million for one season, something Papelbon humbly is aware of (AND his brain know it, too).
Papelbon And His Brain Are Thinking Same Thing
↵↵“Heck yeah, as far as what me and my brain are thinking,” Papelbon said, “but I haven’t even sat down with my agents [Seth and Sam Levinson] yet. We don’t even have a number in place. There haven’t been any discussions between me and the Red Sox and my agents at all.”
↵The thing they’ll probably pull is tell us, ‘We’ve got an up-and-coming guy in [Daniel] Bard,’ this and that. That’s fine with me,” Papelbon said. “That’s what they have to do in this cat-and-mouse game. But when you look at what I’ve done so far, you can’t compare it to many other closers besides Mo [Rivera].”
↵“My whole thing is consistency.”
↵↵Apparently “consistency” is walking eight guys in 2008, and then 24 in 2009, the same season his WHIP jumped to a career-high 1.47. And that “up-and-coming guy” Daniel Bard? Yeah, he’s the one who struck out 63 in just 49.1 IP last year, can hit triple digits on the gun and has one of the best sliders in baseball, and did it all for just $400,000. Oh, and he’s also five years younger than Papelbon.
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↵But maybe Papelbon’s brain just forgot to tell him that.
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