Papelbon Gets His Fair Share

The Boston Red Sox avoided arbitration hearings and paid closer Jonathon Papelbon an 806% raise. He will now make $6.25 million for his services in 2009. Yes, it's only a one year deal, but the club is still open to a long-term contract. Assistant GM Jed Hoyer had this to say about the prospects of a multi-year deal...

"We did have some discussions along the way," assistant GM Jed Hoyer said. "I would say certainly those discussions are open and we may pick them up going forward. I think both sides felt like in the interest of time and not exchanging numbers for an arbitration hearing, the best thing to do was to agree on a one-year number today. But we are certainly open to exploring those ideas, and I think their side is, too."

His 2008 salary was $775,000 and he earned his raise with continued success and fist pumping Paps style saves. It was the largest salary bump EVER for a relief pitcher in his first year eligible for arbitration. Lefthander Javie Lopez was also inked to a one year $1.35 million deal. The bullpen is complete and it looks good, top to bottom. Sideways, even. The rotation is set, too. And the lineup is complete, right down to a fourth outfielder. We'll miss Alex Cora, but a healthy Lugo coupled with Jed Lowrie, Pedey, Lowell and Youk sounds pretty darn good to me. Big Papi David Ortiz' health remains a concern...he says his wrist is fully healed but the wrist has to take a lot of stress with every swing of the bat, even in the on deck circle. I have hope and faith that his numbers will improve from last year...they have to. Our cleanup hitter will be #2 MVP runner up Kevin Youkilis, so Papi will get good pitches to hit. Whether he takes advantage of that remains to be seen. On the whole, with good starting pitching, this team will go far. I'm not worried about the late inning relief. We need a 100% healthy Mike Lowell, though. If he's not, that will hurt bigtime. But I like to look at the positives...that's just the way I am, in baseball and in life.

Thanks for stopping in. I hope you enjoyed Inauguration Tuesday...I certainly did. You can click on the title of this post for the Boston Herald Red Sox homepage...there's a great article on Big Papi that I'm sure you'll find interesting. As always, be well...I hope your Hump Day Wednesday will be a great one. As always, BE WELL. L'chaim, to life.