Jonathan Papelbon

It happens every year. One team has unreasonably high expectations for their team, signs a couple of free agents, and when they fail to meet their goals, they become sellers at the trade deadline.

Need an example? How about last year's Seattle Mariners. In theory, Cliff Lee would have been great if they had an offense. However, their lack of success forced them to trade Lee to the Rangers, a team better suited for Lee.

When Trevor Hoffman announced his retirement yesterday, immediate talk about his Hall of Fame candidacy, his 601 saves, and his reputation as a great Padre surfaced. I do consider him worthy of the hall of fame as he, along with Mariano Rivera and Billy Wagner, were the most effective closers who did it for the longest time. But it seems as if they’re a dying breed.

As Trevor Hoffman joins Billy Wagner in riding off into the sunset, the MLB is arguably down to just one great, longtime closer.

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.

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. 

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

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:

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.

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.

With Zack Greinke only two seasons away from free agency, it was obvious that the Royals would have to deal their ace pitcher. The 27-year old righty would inevitably command a massive salary that Kansas City could not afford to match and hoped to acquire a package of elite prospects rather than risk losing Greinke for nothing.

Following this weekend's trade of Greinke to Milwaukee for four of the organization's top ten prospects, many questions were answered but even more were raised.

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.