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Papelbon and Francona react to the decision to put Papelbon back in the bullpen

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- What Terry Francona and Jonathan Papelbon had to say about the decision to move Papelbon back to the closer's role:

Francona:
On what went into the deicision: ''We made the decision with extensive, intense and passionate talks. He's going to move to the bullpen.''

On what was said at the end of last season, about the health risks to Papelbon if he continued relieveing: "I know what was said at the end of last season. I was there.''

On how the Sox came to change their minds: ''When we got to camp, he went through a barrage of medical updates. The more I watched, the more I asked a lot of questions. He's off the charts with his strength.''

Papelbon:
On what he's been thinking during camp: ''Obviously I've been thinking about this all spring. When I got to spring training, I wasn't sleeping well. There was always that feeling I wanted to close. I went to our captain (Jason Varitek), I said, 'Tek, I'm not sleeping good at night. I want to close.' ''

On whether or not the team is forcing the move: ''This was a decision I made. This had nothing to do with (Mike) Timlin being healthy or us not having (an established) closer.''

On his endurance in the role: ''There's no reason I can't pitch into October, from my standpoint or a physical standpoint.''

On how he feels about the role: ''It all boiled down to the simple fact that I broke into the league as a closer. Basically, my heart is as a closer. In my heart I still had feelings for going to close. I want to do this rest of the career. I want to be Mariano Rivera.''

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:34 PM | Permalink

Reassuring words from Schill

Almost as soon as the news broke about Jonathan Papelbon's move to the bullpen, Curt Schilling had published his take on his blog. Schilling, whose 38 Pitches blog has become very popular this offseason, defends the organization's move and says that Papelbon is just fine with everything.

"No it wasn’t a rash decision brought about by uncertainty. I can promise you there were many meetings involving many people that occurred before this took place," Schilling writes. "Paps wanted to close because that’s where he felt he helped the team best, but he had no issues or problems being a starter either. He was going to do whatever role they asked of him."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:12 PM | Permalink

Papelbon on deck as Sox' closer

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- After spending the first five weeks of spring training insisting they had no plans to move Jonathan Papelbon back to the bullpen, the Red Sox today did just that.

The Sox announced after today's 4-4 tie with the Phillies here that Papelbon -- one of the best relievers in baseball in 2006 -- was being reinstated as the team's closer. His spot in the starting rotation will be taken by Julian Tavarez, who pitched three innings in Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Orioles and four innings in a minor-league game today.

In retrospect, Tavarez' increased workload should have served as a tipoff to the team's plans. As a middle to late reliever, Tavarez would have no call to pitch as much as he has in recent days unless he was being stretched out for greater in-game responsibilities.

Papelbon, conversely, was the Sox' second pitcher today after having been the starter in his last several appearances. He had started the exhibition season pitching on the same day as Tim Wakefield, but they were separated a week or so into the schedule, ostensibly because they would be pitching on different days during the season. The fact that were back together today, and that Papelbon was not starting, was another red flag.

Papelbon worked three innings and allowed two hits and a run, with one walk and three strikeouts.

On the one hand, the move solves a huge problem for the Red Sox. Unable to sign or trade for an established closer during the offseason, they had planned to give the job to 41-year-old Mike Timlin. When Timlin was suffered a strained oblique muscle early in camp, an injury that will force him to start the season on the disabled list, they had to turn to Plan B.

Although they made no public pronouncements, it was believed Tavarez would be the choice, the reasoning being he had the best mental makeup for the role. The Sox didn't want to place the immense pressure of closing in a market like Boston on Joel Piniero, who is new to the position, and none of the other relievers -- Brendan Donnelly, J.C. Romero, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Hideki Okajima -- had the experience or the skills for the job.

Papelbon, of course, was absolutely dominant in the role last year. He was 4-2 with 35 saves and an 0.92 ERA in 59 games, made the American League All-Star team and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

On the other hand, however, the stress of relieving led to a shoulder injury that sidelined Papelbon for the final month of the season and the team's medical staff recommended he return to starting to avoid further problems. The Sox, however, say they will carefully monitor his health and not do anything to invite further problems.

The Sox were strong, but never unequivocal, in their insistence that Papelbon would not relieve this season. Still, they repeated over and over that Papelbon would be a starter and once became very angry with media members who continued to speculate that the Sox would, in the end, return him to the closer's role.

Which is exactly what they wound up doing.

Posted by Pam Cotter  at 2:02 PM | Permalink

Red Sox-Phillies press notes

If you have Adobe 6.0 or higher, click here to see today's Red Sox-Phillies media notes.

Posted by Art Martone  at 11:51 AM | Permalink

Around the majors, locally . . .

Stories -- some national, some not -- with a local twist:

RED SOX: The Pirates were impressed by what they saw from Daisuke Matsuzaka. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Note, however, the semi-wet-blanket statement from the unnamed scout at the end of the item . . . A must read: Tom Verducci's profile of Matsuzaka in Sports Illustrated (both in print on the Web), which examines not only the pitcher himself but the seemingly counterproductive American strategy of overprotecting pitcher's arms. You'll gasp -- or at least I did -- at the work habits of Matsuzaka and most Japanese pitchers, and gasp again when you realize that Matsuzaka, who doesn't even ice down his arm after starts, seems absolutely none the worse for wear by it all. And you'll worry what coming to the United States, with its different schedule (Matsuzaka, for instance, pitched only once a week in Japan) and vastly different athletic culture, will mean for him.

MY FAVORITE BLOGGERS: Speaking of unnamed scouts, one of them gives Joe Posnanski the most honest preseason assessment of a division race you're likely to find anywhere. Posnanski, a columnist for the Kansas City Star by day, has started a must-read baseball blog entitled "The Soul of Baseball," based on his friendship with the late Buck O'Neil and named after the book Posnanski just completed on O'Neil. He's a great reporter and an even better writer, and stopping at his blog is one of the joys of my day . . . As are my stops at Seth Mnookin's "Feeding The Monster" blog, named after his book on the Red Sox. Today Seth gives some valuable -- and unexpected -- insight into just how STATS Inc. gets the initial information on its defensive metrics . . .

THE ENEMY: Steven Goldman, who earned his Internet chops writing "The Pinstripe Bible" on the YES Network's Web site and who now also works for Baseball Prospectus, writes a story in the New York Sun that the Yankees could be sabotaging themselves with their plan to give so much playing time to Doug Mientkiewicz, whom he thinks just might be the worst first baseman in franchise history . . . More and more, it's looking like this is Alex Rodriguez' last year in the Bronx (New York Post) . . .

OLD FRIEND: Pedro Martinez talks about his health, his future, and his past (with the Red Sox) in a fascinating Boston Herald piece . . .

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: A Rocky Mountain News sitdown with Todd Helton . . .

AND FINALLY: Rocco Baldelli doesn't sound nearly as optimistic as his manager when discussing how long his hamstring tweak with keep him out of the lineup (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Yet more bad news for those hoping that the Extra Innings package of out-of-market games will somehow remain available on cable television (New York Times) . . .

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:53 AM | Permalink