Barring trade, Phillies’ Papelbon will be franchise saves leader soon

Friday evening, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon retired the Nationals' lineup in order to secure his second save of the season, 108th save as a Phillie, and the 327th save overall of his career.

For 4,303 days, Jose Mesa has held the Phillies' record for most saves in franchise history, 112. With 108 saves of his own in red pinstripes, Papelbon is just five away from breaking the record that has been held since June 30, 2003, when Mesa recorded his 104th save as a Phillie to best Steve Bedrosian's 103. Mesa finished with six additional saves that season, and he tacked-on another to his total on August 5, 2007 after returning to Philadelphia in early June that year on a one-year deal.

Papelbon, 34, signed with the Phillies in late 2011 after spending his first seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox. There, he saved 219 games to surpass Bob Stanley, becoming Boston's all-time leader in the category.

He was largely known in Beantown for his great success in the postseason. In 27 innings pitched, 18 appearances, Papelbon only surrendered three earned runs on 14 hits and 8 walks. All three of those earned runs did not come until his 18th and most-recent appearance in Game 3 of the 2009 American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Those surrendered runs ended a 26.0-inning scoreless streak that dated back to the start of his postseason career.

In Philadelphia, on the other hand, Papelbon's reputation will be forever tainted with his off-the-field antics and frequent, outlandish comments regarding the team and its culture. One action in particular, and perhaps the most infamous of them all, occurred last September when Papelbon made an inappropriate gesture towards Philadelphia fans while leaving the mound towards the dugout. This incident led to a seven-game suspension.

This week during the first series of the season against his former team, Papelbon told the Boston Globe that he 'doesn't really feel much like a Phillie' and that the Red Sox are a 'part of who he is'.

Controversy aside, Papelbon has been a good teammate in the bullpen, and has held a leadership role for up-and-coming relievers such as Ken Giles, his thought-to-be successor as Phillies' closer.

Last June, manager Ryne Sandberg praised his closer, stating the following:

"He's been a leader down there as far as talking the game and bringing them together as a group. I know early on he was making them watch the game, watch the things they should be watching. He has them being their own group down there and he's the leader of the group with the success he's had this year.

Papelbon watches the fifth inning from the dugout, pulls for the guys, which is pretty cool. Then when he makes his way [to the bullpen] after watching [half of the game] on TV. He goes out and talks about the hitters, and that's what they do the whole time he's out there. It's a different way of watching the game."

Papelbon's success in the postseason was perhaps the most influential reason in why general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. brought him to Philadelphia, and furthermore making him the highest-paid reliever in baseball history.

The Phillies were coming off of their best season in franchise history in 2011, finishing 102-60. Since the 2008 World Series Championship, however, and up to the point of playoff elimination, losing 1-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the Phillies' closer situation had never really been fully defined. Ryan Madson largely filled-in for the struggling Brad Lidge, along with contributions from Jose Contreras, Antonio Bastardo, and others. The Phillies ended up signing Papelbon for the 2012 season and beyond, instead of re-signing Madson and giving him the role. In the Phillies' minds, Papelbon coming to Philadelphia finally meant stability for the closer position as they were bringing in a proven, postseason asset.

In three seasons as a Phillie, the five-time All Star posted a 12-10 record with a 2.44 ERA. He has struck out 213 batters in 200.1 innings, and successfully saved 108 of 123 opportunities (88.5 success percentage). With Boston, Papelbon blew just 29 saves out of 248 opportunities for a nearly identical 88.3 success percentage.

Below is a table which compares Papelbon's statistics as a Phillie with five other notable closers in the franchise's 133-season history. The six closers are ranked in order by number of successful save opportunities. Papelbon's 88.5% save success percentage is the highest out of these selection of closers, exceeding the next highest value, Jose Mesa's 86.8%, by 1.7%.

While Papelbon has never made a playoff appearance while wearing red pinstripes, that should not be held against him. In 2012, he led he National League in games finished, 64, and had a respectable earned-run average of 2.44. Also that season, he struck out nearly a third of the batters he faced (92 out of 284, 32.4%) over 70.0 innings of work. Last season, Papelbon recorded his most amount of saves, 39, since the 2008 season with the Red Sox where he saved 41 out of 46 opportunities (89.1% success rate).

If Papelbon indeed passes Mesa, he would be the second, two-franchise individual saves leader currently in baseball. Robb Nen, a ten-year, right handed veteran who played from 1993 up to and including 2002, currently is at the top of the leaderboard for both the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants.

In a post-game interview with the media on Wednesday, where Papelbon stated that 'straight cash' was one of the main reasons for him joining the Phillies, he revealed his excitement of the possibility of leading two franchises all-time in saves:

"I think for me, having an opportunity to be the career saves leader in two historic franchises means a lot to me and I don’t take that lightly by any means.”

On November 14, 2011, "Cinco Ocho" signed a four-year deal worth $58,000,058. He needs to finish only 46 more games in 2015 for a fifth year of the deal, worth $13 million, to kick-in for the 2016 season.

If Papelbon gets traded, which one would think would be all but inevitable if the right offer is out there for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., he could very well lead a third franchise in the saves category. The Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers showed the most interest this offseason in acquiring the closer. While surpassing Tom Henke's 217 saves with the Blue Jays might be a reach for Papelbon, Dan Plesac's 133 saves with the Brewers would be more attainable for Papelbon.

Surely, however, being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks would be the best-case scenario for Papelbon. He would only need 99 saves to surpass Jose Valverde. Valverde, 37, was released by the San Diego Padres on April 2.

At 327 career saves, Papelbon ranks 15th all-time in Major League Baseball history. If he saves for his career average of 37 in 2015, which would subsequently raise his total to 362, he will rise to 9th in the rankings. Currently, Papelbon is one save ahead of former 2004 Phillie, Roberto Hernandez. This Hernandez is not to be confused with 2014 Phillie, Roberto Hernandez/Fausto Carmona, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last August.

While Papelbon hasn't experienced 'Red October', and often has thrown in meaningless outings with no critical standing implications, him being the franchise saves leader should not be overlooked. He has had an impressive save success percentage while wearing red pinstripes, and also has thrown for an ERA under 2.50. Thus, when it is all said and done, Jonathan Papelbon should be viewed as one of the best, if not the best closers in the Phillies' franchise history.

Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.