This week has been quite an adventure for Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon. On Monday, All Star media day, he spoke to the media and said it was time for the Phillies to "you-know-what or get off the pot". He hasn't exactly been shy about his urge to be dealt, but the way he's handled it hasn't really been professional at all. The Phillies are terrible this season and it takes a toll, but the way he handles himself with the media has to be something other teams view as a con when it comes to a trade.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. responded to Papelbon's remarks on Tuesday during his appearance on the WIP Morning Show, saying he "doesn't know anything about the front office", but his comments towards Phillies management will not diminish his value on the trade market.
"No, I don't think so because I know that the clubs that have seen him pitch and know what he's about know what kind of competitor he is," Amaro told Angelo Cataldi. "They know that he wants to win. They know that when he takes the ball, he doesn't make any excuses. He knows what it takes to make the last pitch of the season.
"As Pap is a very good pitcher, he doesn't know anything about the front office," Amaro said. [CSNPhilly.com]
Papelbon responded to Amaro Jr.'s comment with a basic answer.
“That’s just my opinion,” he said. “Everyone is entitled to it.”
In Tuesday night's All-Star Game, the National League used a total of eight pitchers in their 6-3 loss. Papelbon was not one of them. He noted it was still a great experience, but it would have been more worthwhile to come in and pitch, which isn't really surprising.
“Yeah, of course you want to come in and pitch, make it feel worthwhile,” said Papelbon, who admitted to some disappointment about not getting in the game. “I kind of expected to pitch. I think I had more All-Star Games than anybody in here. I don’t know if that matters or not.”
“It was still a great experience.”
Papelbon also didn't appear in the All-Star Game in 2006 with Boston, but had pitched in the other four. Following the game, Papelbon was told that Brian Dozier, who hails from Papelbon's home town, hit a homer into the National League bullpen. The Phillies closer was unaware as he was taking a snooze on a bullpen mound.
“Did he?” Papelbon said.
Yeah, a reporter told him, it practically landed in your bullpen.
“I didn’t watch it,” he said. “I was out there, but I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention.”
What were you doing in the 'pen?
“Snoozing,” Pap said.
You get some good winks?
“Yeah,” he said. “Until (Aroldis) Chapman made me get up out of my chair because he had to pitch on the mound I was sitting on.”
It was pointed out to Papelbon that maybe he did not get in the game because he was being punished for snoozing.
“Maybe,” he said. [CSNPhilly.com]
Jonathan Papelbon's disappointment of not pitching in the 86th Annual Midsummer Classic is small compared to the disappointment of not being traded yet. Come July 31st, if Papelbon is still in red pinstripes, we are in for quite a wild ride for the remainder of the 2015 season. Papelbon's former Phillies teammate A.J. Burnett also didn't pitch.
