That is a lot of money for Papelbon!! He better do a lot better than last year or Saux fans are going to turn on him quick!Red Sox and RHP Jonathan Papelbon avoided arbitration Tuesday by agreeing to a one-year, $12 million contract.
The Red Sox knew this day was coming. They had an opportunity to non-tender Papelbon this winter and they even looked into acquiring Mariano Rivera from the free agent pool. Instead, the Sox are going to suck it up and pay Papelbon a ridiculous sum for his final year of arbitration eligibility. He finished with a mediocre 3.90 ERA and 1.27 WHIP over 67 innings last season.