The Phillies are looking to trade high-priced closer Jonathan Papelbon, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.
Papelbon, 33, is coming off a 2013 season in which he pitched to a 2.92 ERA, 131 ERA+ and 5.18 K/BB in 61 2/3 innings of work. Papelbon has long been one of the elite closers in the game, as he owns a stellar career ERA+ of 184 to go with 286 saves and a save percentage of 87.7.
With all that said, trading Papelbon will be a tall order for Phillies GM Ruben Amaro. That’s mostly because Papelbon is still owed a minimum of $26 million over the next two seasons, and that’s not counting a $13-million vesting option for 2016. (Yes, that was an insane contract for a guy who pitches 60 to 70 innings a season.)
On top of all that, Papelbon has a partial no-trade clause, is likely past his prime and, as CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman tweets, has alienated some parts of the Philadelphia clubhouse.
In other words, the only way the Phillies will trade Papelbon is if they pick a large portion of his remaining tab.
