Papelbon Goes Back To Closing for Boston

"I was always feeling deep down in my heart that I wanted to close," Jonathan Papelbon said after the Red Sox announced he would remain the team's closer. (Steve Nesius - Reuters)

CLEARWATER, Fla., March 22 -- Even as the Boston Red Sox were conducting a very public search for a closer this spring, and even as Jonathan Papelbon was preparing himself to be the team's fourth starter, both team and player were wrestling deep into the night with the same haunting thought: The Red Sox already possessed a knockout closer, and it was Papelbon himself, and until one side came clean to the other with the contents of their heart, neither would be able to sleep the sleep of the innocent.

"I hadn't been sleeping well," Papelbon acknowledged Thursday, in the fluorescent-lit office of his manager, Terry Francona, in front of a half-dozen reporters.

"I hadn't, either," Francona said.

But by the time the Red Sox' bus pulled away from Bright House Field late Thursday afternoon, on its way back to the team's spring training headquarters in Fort Myers, Fla., it would not have been surprising if both Papelbon and Francona were already deep in a blissful slumber, their chests freed of their shared burden, their nightmare suddenly over.

In a move that reversed months of public statements and accepted medical opinion -- but that apparently was being plotted by both player and team completely independent of each other -- the team named Papelbon, 26, its closer, returning him to a role in which he thrived last season (35 saves, 0.92 ERA, runner-up in American League rookie of the year balloting) before a shoulder injury ended his season on Sept. 1 and pushed him toward the more regimented role of starter.

"I was always feeling deep down in my heart that I wanted to close," Papelbon said, "This is something I want to do for the next 10 years. This is what I want to do the rest of my career."

Papelbon's secret desire finally began to emerge on Tuesday afternoon, when he unburdened himself to Red Sox catcher and captain Jason Varitek. "Basically," Papelbon said, "I told him, 'I want to close.' " Later Tuesday, he approached Francona during batting practice and said, "If you want to give me the ball in the ninth, I want it."

And suddenly, it was over -- the parade of veteran candidates from within the Red Sox' own bullpen, the exhaustive search for a suitable trade target that wouldn't cost the team its top prospects, the collective angst of Red Sox Nation, the purposefully ambiguous stance of team management in recent weeks toward the closer issue.

"We may have the best reliever in the game," Francona said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited." Asked if the move had been in the back of his mind all spring, Francona said, "It was in the front."

The ultimate decision, from the team's standpoint, was the result of "extensive, intensive, passionate talks" between Francona, pitching coach John Farrell, General Manager Theo Epstein and the team's medical personnel -- who last year recommended Papelbon move to the starting rotation this season to lessen the toll on his shoulder. According to both Papelbon and Francona, those medical personnel have approved the move back to closer, based on the increased strength evident in his shoulder as a result of exercises that he will continue to do.

"I would never put our ballclub's interests ahead of one of our ballplayer's health," Francona said. "There were a lot of questions to be answered. This kid will be checked [and] monitored. There will be days when I tell him not to pitch, and do his strengthening exercises."

Right-hander Julian Tavarez, a 12-year veteran who filled in capably as a starter late last season but who has made 615 appearances in relief, will take Papelbon's place in the Red Sox' rotation. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will move up to the No. 4 slot, with Tavarez in the fifth spot. Tavarez had been one of the in-house candidates for the closer's job, along with veterans Mike Timlin, Brendan Donnelly and Joel Pi?eiro.

The team had also inquired about potential trade targets, including, as far back as December, the Washington Nationals' Chad Cordero. However, according to industry sources, those talks died out when the Nationals' asking price -- multiple top prospects -- was considered to be too high.

Tavarez's ascension to the rotation, while considered permanent, will only heighten speculation that the Red Sox will go all-in for seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, if, as widely expected around the game, Clemens decides in May that he wants to pitch another season.

Mathematically speaking, instead of getting potentially 180-220 innings from Papelbon as a starting pitcher, they will be getting closer to 70-80 innings from him as a closer. Even Francona acknowledged that, in terms of pure value, he would prefer a dominant pitcher like Papelbon to start.

"But not this guy," Francona said. "He's unique."

A year ago, Papelbon was preparing to open his rookie season as a starter, until an injury to veteran closer Keith Foulke led the team to make the fateful move to turn him into a closer. Now it has happened again.

"Coming into spring training as a starter, yeah, I was focusing on that. But I was going to bed thinking of being a closer," Papelbon said.