"He seems happy," general manager Theo Epstein said. "His sights might have been set a little higher, but the more information he got, the more he probably realized that we were being really fair with him. He's going to be here a really long time. This isn't his last contract. The relationship between him and the club is a really strong one, so I don't think something like this was going to get in the way."
Though, as Epstein said yesterday, the signing of players not eligible for arbitration isn't usually breaking news, Papelbon forced the issue.
"I'm at a point where I feel like the position I'm in, there's a certain standard that needs to be put in place here," Papelbon said Tuesday. "I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that standard needs to be set and I'm the one to set that standard."
And he did, with his contract one of the highest for a pitcher who has not reached arbitration, nearly comparable to Rivera's $750,000 deal when the Yankees closer had a similar amount of service time in 1998.
But the pact was not quite as high as the 27-year-old Papelbon desired, with the closer citing Ryan Howard's 2007 Phillies contract of $900,000 as a goal. Still, he did better than fellow closer Bobby Jenks, who was awarded $550,000 after two straight seasons with 40-plus saves for the White Sox. Papelbon had 37 saves in 40 opportunities last season, one year after going 35 for 41. He had a 1.85 ERA in 2007 and struck out 84 batters in 58 1/3 innings. He added 10 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in the postseason.
The Red Sox could have renewed Papelbon at the same salary as last year ($425,550), or given him a small raise in his final contract before he becomes arbitration-eligible next year.
"I think it's a reflection that our structure for [pre-arbitration] players is fair and that, ultimately, the players felt the same way," Epstein said. "We tend to be generous within reason to our players, try to reward them for service time and performance, get these things done."
