Phillies Agree to Sign Jonathan Papelbon

Well this sucks. The Phillies have agreed to terms with now former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. The deal was first reported by Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly, and my regular sources, such as Jon Heyman, filled in the blanks later on. The deal is reported to be 4 years, $50M with a vesting option for a fifth year, which would then make the deal worth $60M.

Jesus H Christ. What has baseball come to when you're paying a guy $12.5M per year to come in, give you maybe 50-60 appearances, maybe 30+ saves, and pitch one or two innings per appearance? The market for closers is ridiculous. Like seriously, it should look something like the DH market does now.

Anyways, it appears now with Pap gone, the Sox are in on Ryan Madson and Heath Bell, and probably guys like Joe Nathan and K-Rod (the last two have not been reported, that is just my guess). It doesn't look like they're going to go the closer-by-committee route and throw Bard into that role. Odds are Bard will stay in the 8th inning role, otherwise he's geting moved to the rotation.

I wonder what song the Phillies are going to play whenever Pap comes out of the bullpen. They sure as hell can't play Shipping Up to Boston, 'cause ya know, it's Philadelphia and all. I also wonder what that fatass cop is going to do now that he doesn't have Papelbon to fist bump every time he comes in. Maybe the Sox can answer that question for me once I get my press pass.

Also, now that the Sox will receive two compensatory picks, I'm thinking Cherington is looking at possible trades for either pitching or a bat that involves one or two low level prospects, even if they're good, since they'll just be replaced within a year or two. I wouldn't mind seeing Gio Gonzalez come in. The Sox have also reportedly expressed interest in free agent starter Mark Beuhrle. I personally like Beuhrle a lot. Veteran player, good attitude, has a ring, and can slide into the 4 or 5 spot and log you some good innings. Basically an effective Tim Wakefield. Hey Ben, I hope you read this, 'cause I actually have good ideas. Of course, Ben Cherington isn't reading this or anything on this site for that matter, but hey, I can dream can't I?

Ben Cherington is Already 10 Times Better Than Theo

Ben Cherington at his introductory press conference yesterday afternoon. Cherington was promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Red Sox.

Yesterday, Ben Cherington was officially introduced as the Red Sox new Executive Vice President/General Manager. Not only does he sound exactly like Theo (thank you Toucher and Rich), but he's already ten times the GM Theo ever was. Why is that? Well, that's because he announced about 45 minutes that John Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery this winter. GET THE DUCK BOATS READY!!!!!! I was really hoping they could trade the fat lard, but hey, not having him for an entire season is just as good. Plus, who knows, maybe he comes back half decent and they can trade him. In any case though, here's the important stuff you need to know:

• Cherington wants "a new manager with a strong voice who cares about players and can collaborate with the front office." He says the team (aka Cherington and Hazen) will start interviewing candidates soon. They have several candidates in mind for first round interviews, but they haven't asked permission to interview any of them yet. Previous managerial experience would be a plus, but it's not a necessity.
• The team's success with free agent signings has "not been good enough," according to Cherington.
• The Red Sox would like to have Fat Papi (really? They actually want him back?) and Jonathan Papelbon (Yes!!) back, according to Cherington. They've talked a little bit with both guys and expect discussions to continue. Really, the only guy that matters there is Papelbon. He's got the balls to play in Boston, so why not just keep him instead of taking a chance that say Heath Bell will crack under the pressure?
• Cherington says the team will likely pick up the $6M option on shortstop Marco Scutaro. Thank god. It's gonna be another year at least until Iglesias is ready to take over full time (fielding skills are out of this world, but his hitting blows)
• Boston's farm system is "stronger and deeper than ever" at Double-A and below, Cherington said. Shocking....

One last note, where the hell were John Henry and Tom Werner at this presser? Supposedly "travelling". I bet they're flying out to see the chick Gronkowski posed with. Which leads to to another final point. I give mad props to Gronk for getting a picture with that chick. Talk about a bombshell.