Pap signs for $775k
OnlyThe10s
Posts: 1,850
in Sports Talk
Anyone else think he's worth more?
I mean, Rivera had the market on closers for a long time there, but I think Pap has set the new bar.
I know it's only a one-year deal, but come on... hasnt this guy proved he's worth more?
Perk? Republicanmass? Other Sox fans?
I mean, Rivera had the market on closers for a long time there, but I think Pap has set the new bar.
I know it's only a one-year deal, but come on... hasnt this guy proved he's worth more?
Perk? Republicanmass? Other Sox fans?
0
Comments
I think its a smart play by the Sox and the other teams, let the kid prove him self for more than two years! They know the deal, if they continue to play to their abbility's they will get paid.
<< <i>Anyone else think he's worth more?
>>
Yes
March 7, 2008
CBSSports.com wire reports
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon agreed Thursday to a $775,000, one-year contract, nearly doubling his salary.
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Papelbon was among 18 Red Sox players who agreed to one-year deals, putting Boston's entire 40-man major league roster under contract.
Papelbon earned $425,550 last season, when he had 37 saves in 40 opportunities and a 1.85 ERA, then saved three of the four World Series games against Colorado. He hoped to get a multiyear deal but had no leverage. He said he wanted to set a salary standard for future outstanding closers.
"I feel a certain obligation not only to myself and my family to make the money that I deserve but for the game of baseball," he said Tuesday. "Mariano Rivera has been doing it for the past 10 years and with me coming up behind him I feel a certain obligation to do the same."
The 27-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season.
Among the other players who agreed to contracts were AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury ($406,000 in majors, $62,500 in minors) and pitcher Jon Lester, In Boston's World Series sweep, Pedroia drove in four runs, Ellsbury hit a team best .438 and Lester pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the fourth game.
Clay Buchholz, who pitched a no-hitter in his second major league game last Sept. 1, agreed to a one-year deal worth $396,000 in the majors and $62,500 in the minors.
The other agreements were reached with pitchers David Aardsma, Craig Breslow, Bryan Corey, Manny Delcarmen, Devern Hansack, Kyle Jackson, Edgar Martinez, and David Pauley; catchers Dusty Brown and George Kottaras; infielders Chris Carter and Argenis Diaz, and outfielder and Brandon Moss.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
For the record, YES I do think Papelbon "deserves" a lot more money, he has proved his worth more than the other guys mentioned in this article, it looks like these other guys (Ellsbury, Buccholz ect..) should be prepared to wait at least another couple of seasons before making the big bucks.
I thought pap was a milti-miliion dollar no-brainer.
Wow, I used a lot of hyphens in this post.
That's wicked-cool.
Bosox1976
Should be paid more? Not according to the bargaining agreement the most powerful union in the world decided upon. Players with limited major league experience always subsidize players like Ramirez and Drew. It has been like that for almost 20 years now. In a few years a new group of younger players will be earning less than they are worth and the Red Sox or another team will be paying Papelbon eight figures
TAMPA - Note to Jonathan Papelbon: Mariano Rivera doesn't look ready to retire anytime soon, as he buzzsawed through his first inning of spring training Friday with a grand total of eight pitches, all at 93 or 94 mph.
So you may want to hold off on all the talk about succeeding him as the standard-bearer for closers.
Better yet, you might want to take a page from Rivera's career and let your pitching do the talking.
Papelbon seems like quite a character, as much a celebrity in Boston for his "Riverdance" act as his pitching. Nothing wrong with that. And by helping the Red Sox win the World Series in 2007, he has earned the right to be considered one of the premier closers in baseball.
But he sure came off as presumptuous and self-absorbed this week in making his case that he should be paid as if Rivera has already passed him the torch as the best at the position.
"I feel a certain obligation to not only myself and my family to make the money I deserve," Papelbon said, "but for the game of baseball. I mean, Mariano Rivera has been doing it for the past 10 years. With me coming up behind him, I feel a certain obligation to do the same."
Wow. Can we get reality check for this guy? Yeah, baseball players don't make enough money. And ticket prices aren't rising to ridiculous levels to pay those salaries. The game is counting on you to raise the bar to an even higher level.
Hey, we understand these guys make huge money. It's only when they sound this out of touch that it tends to rub people the wrong way. And talk about making yourself a target for Yankee fans.
Papelbon is no doubt frustrated that after two years of dominance he is not making millions yet, but that's the nature of baseball's salary system. Three years in the majors make you eligible for arbitration, but until then you're at the mercy of the club and baseball's minimum salary levels.
As it turned out, the Red Sox rewarded Papelbon for his performance by agreeing Friday to pay him $775,000, when they could have renewed him at the $425,550 he made last season. The Yankees, by contrast, played it by the book with Joba Chamberlain, paying last year's phenom the rookie minimum salary of $390,000.
So Papelbon did break a record for closers that Rivera had set in 1998, when the Yankees paid him $750,000 for two years of similar dominance, though one had been in a set-up role.
But he was looking for more, and that's fine. Just don't make it about anything more than wanting top dollar. Don't pretend it's for a noble cause.
Even fellow closer Joe Nathan of the Twins felt compelled to call Papelbon on such pretense.
"He's a little young to be worried about that," Nathan said this week. "He's got some time before he has to worry about the young guys behind him. I think it's more important for us to set the bar for him at this stage of the game."
Rivera, as quietly dignified as he has been brilliant over the years, wasn't as judgmental yesterday.
"That's for him to talk about," he said of Papelbon. "I don't worry about what someone else says."
Papelbon surely means no disrespect toward Rivera, but in stating his financial case he sounded ready for top billing as a closer.
"I feel like with me being at the top of my position," he said, "I feel like a standard needs to be set and I'm the one to set that standard."
Rivera just chuckled softly at the notion that Papelbon seems to view himself as his successor.
"If that's the way he feels, more power to him," said Rivera. "He has a lot of talent. But that's a lot of ground to cover. I've seen a lot of ground."
He stretched out the words slowly for effect, to make the point that while it's one thing to dominate as a closer for a couple of years, it's quite another to do it for more than a decade.
The good news for the Yankees is that, at 38, Rivera seems to have bullets left in the gun. He looked effortless in throwing 94mph yesterday, getting two strikeouts and a routine groundout, and afterward joked that he feels like a 20-year-old.
It surely made the Yankees feel better about having given him that three-year, $45 million contract in the offseason. Rivera wanted his money like anybody else, to the point of making veiled threats about leaving, but he didn't paint himself as some kind of crusader for closers everywhere.
So while Papelbon has proven himself to be in Rivera's class as a championship closer and been a huge factor in the Red Sox gaining rare top-dog status in the rivalry with the Yankees, he could still learn a few things about the class with which Rivera has handled being the best.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/
Some of these loudmouthed kids should take a page from the players that brought the salaries to where they are today. Put in your time and be happy you're in the major in your second or third year of pro ball. Kids like Upton, Fielder, Howard, Papelbon, and the like don't have ANY right to DEMAND the money that other established players are getting. Their union negotiated the policies that the league operates under and these young players will have to wait their time and hope to stay healthy while continuing to produce.
Perhaps its the agents filling their heads with hype. If they produce, they'll get their payday. Cano got his, Tulowitzki got his (surprisingly early), and so have quite a few others. Owners aren't obligated to do anything until arbitration.
Just think, they could've grown up playing for the Expos!
unfortunately there are a lot of teams just as stupid as the mariners who overpay for one year wonders.