When the Phillies dumped closer Jonathan Papelbon on the Nationals, they got extremely lucky. In exchange for paying some money up front, the Nationals are covering all $11 million that Papelbon will earn in 2016. After choking Bryce Harper in a dugout heated exchange, it is no secret that the Nationals want to move Papelbon. But like his Phillies deal, Papelbon has extensive no-trade protection. And one of the teams he decided to block a trade to was the Phillies, of all teams.
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reported Papelbon's no-trade list:
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Baltimore Orioles
- Cleveland Indians
- Colorado Rockies
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Miami Marlins
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Minnesota Twins
- New York Yankees
- Oakland Athletics
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- San Francisco Giants
- Texas Rangers
- Toronto Blue Jays
The Philadelphia Phillies? Does Papelbon think that there was any chance at all that the Phillies would try to reacquire Papelbon during the one-year he would be in Washington?
That of course leaves just 12 teams to which Papelbon can be traded without his consent:
- Atlanta Braves
- Boston Red Sox
- Chicago Cubs
- Cincinnati Reds
- Houston Astros
- Kansas City Royals
- Los Angeles Angels
- New York Mets
- St. Louis Cardinals
- San Diego Padres
- Seattle Mariners
- Tampa Bay Rays
So of these teams, would any of them take Papelbon?
First, the Astros, Royals, Mariners, Red Sox, Cardinals, Mariners, Angels, Rays and Mets already have pretty established closers. The Reds, Padres, and Braves are not really looking to add a one-year closer at this point. Any team taking Papelbon on probably cannot count on flipping him at the trade deadline; one trade is hard enough. So what would it take to get someone to take Papelbon?
The only real idea that could work is if the Braves take on Papelbon's salary while taking on a significant prospect. The Braves spent $10 million last season to take on the contract of Bronson Arroyo (which somehow they traded yet again, despite Arroyo not throwing a pitch) in order to acquire Arizona Diamondbacks first round pick Touki Toussaint. Would the Nationals give up a top prospect to dump Papelbon? That seems highly unlikely.
The Nationals already showed they were willing to terminate manager Matt Williams for a bad clubhouse. If Papelbon is part of that problem – and choking the team's best player probably is a good presumption that there is a problem – the Nationals may have no other choice but to cut him, eating the $11 million he is owed. The Nationals still have the closer that Papelbon replaced, Drew Storen, on their roster. Storen was pitching very well before the Nationals decided for some reason to give the Phillies pitching prospect Nick Pivetta and take Papelbon.
Thanks, Nationals.
