New Deals For 18 Sox
The Boston Red Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon agreed Thursday to a $775,000, one-year contract, nearly doubling his salary.
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.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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