By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After being released by the Washington Nationals in August, former Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon never signed with another team, despite reported interest from his original team, the Boston Red Sox.
It was unclear why Papelbon didn't ultimately choose to latch on with a contender for the stretch run. Some wondered if teams were unwilling to guarantee Papelbon their closer's role. Another theory was that Papelbon, who had given up eight runs over the final five appearances with the Nationals, didn't want to rush into another job when the may have physically been burned out, because if he continued to perform poorly it may have hurt his chances of being able to pitch in 2017.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told WEEI Radio at that time that Papelbon had 'personal reasons' for not signing with the team, though that was rather vague. As it turns out, those personal reasons may have actual been off-the-field related, as opposed to a business decision. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says that the issue continues to keep Papelbon from attempting to continue his career:
Agent Seth Levinson said Papelbon continues to deal with a personal family matter, and until that’s cleared up Papelbon will devote his time to that issue. “We hope that people can respect his privacy during this time,” Levinson said.
The 36-year-old has been married for over a decade and has two children, though it's unknown if the "personal family matter" is related to any of his immediate family. Whatever the issue is, hopefully Papelbon and his family are able to get it resolved as quickly as possible.
Papelbon, who broke into the league in 2005, is the all-time saves leader for both the Red Sox and Phillies organizations, despite burning some bridges at both of the first two stops in his career. Papelbon is ninth in league history with 368 career saves and third among active players, behind just Francisco Rodriguez and Joe Nathan.
