By Yours Truly
http://throneberryfields.com/2016/08/13/the-washington-strangler-asks-for-and-gets-his-release/When the Nationals reached out and landed then-Pirates closer Mark Melancon two days before the non-waiver trade deadline,
I wondered aloud whether that meant incumbent Jonathan Papelbon’s days in Washington were numbered. They were. The
Nats granted his release Saturday afternoon.
According to ESPN Saturday morning, Papelbon himself sought to put paid to those numbered days,
reportedly asking the
team to release him. The move ends a tenure that wasn’t exactly an overwhelming favourite in the first place.
I wasn’t exactly alone in saying aloud that the Nats absolutely should have rid themselves of the once-formidable Papelbon after
last fall’s disgraceful attempt to strangle Bryce Harper. “Second chances are admirable,” I wrote two weeks ago, “but trying to
choke a teammate over a trivial matter in a game rendered meaningless by the Nats’ elimination from the postseason can’t be
justified. Ever.”
Papelbon’s request reportedly came after general manager Mike Rizzo informed the veteran righthander the team wanted to
designate him for assignment. His struggles in June and July exacerbated the situation,
according to the Washington Post. He
hasn’t pitched since 6 August, and before that he’d been relegated to low-leverage game situations.
At this writing the Nats are so comfortable at the top of the National League East that they could shake off Friday night’s flogging
by the rebuilding Braves, even with struggling—and possibly injured—Harper still sitting Friday night and Stephen Strasburg
getting spanked for five extra base hits
for only the third time in his career.
They’re not exactly comfortable, however, with the prospect that Harper, who’s been having a down season, especially compared
to his MVP 2015,
may have been playing through a shoulder injury he hasn’t spoken about but which may have contributed to his
current neck issues.
But nobody’s going into panic mode yet, nor should they. If anything, Papelbon asking for his release now would make one matter
of business a little simpler. The Nats planned to call up Reynaldo Lopez to start against the Braves Saturday night. They’d have to
clear a roster spot for Lopez.
It was anything but simple business when Rizzo traded for Papelbon in the first place last July. The Nats had a talented incumbent,
Drew Storen, who’d had his struggles earlier in his Nats tenure but had spent the first half of 2015 as one of the National League’s
deadliest closers.
Exactly why Rizzo thought he needed Papelbon remained something of a mystery, with Storen looking to all appearances as though
he’d learned from his past and was gunning for the distance. Professional analysts weren’t the only ones mystified. Nats fans,
writes
the Post‘s Dan Steinberg, “were aghast at last summer’s bullpen addition from the moment he arrived.
“They were skeptical because of his boorish reputation, because of years spent rooting against him on the Philadelphia Phillies, because
the move displaced the popular Drew Storen (and appeared to prompt his latest disintegration), and because of worries that the
veteran reliever was in decline.”
The Phillies may have wanted to rid themselves of Papelbon, and Papelbon may have wanted to jump off the sinking Phillie ship, but
who put a gun to Rizzo’s head demanding he be the pigeon?
So Rizzo got Papelbon. And with the other bulls moved to situations in which they weren’t well suited, the Nats bullpen cratered. Between
that and then-manager Matt Williams refusing to pay closer attention to in-game situations than what his Book instructed him to pay,
the Nats collapsed while the Mets heated up for keeps.
Then came the infamous Fan Appreciation Day when Papelbon tried choking Harper over what he thought was Harper’s lackadaisical run to
first on a pop fly out, when Williams had no clue what was happening in his own dugout until he was told of it.
Williams sent Papelbon—who’d been photographed with a distinct smirk on his face after the choke attempt—out to the mound anyway, instead
of through the wall where he really belonged. And the lowly Phillies, off whose sinking ship Papelbon wanted to jump in the first place, were
only too happy to wipe the smirk off his face.
They nuked him for five runs, including a two-run homer from a no-name named Andres Blanco. Then Papelbon’s season ended infamously.
Three-game suspension without pay for throwing twice at Manny Machado a few days earlier. Four-game suspension without pay for trying
to choke Harper.
Papelbon opened spring training apologising awkwardly but sincerely enough for the Harper incident. Nats fans never quite forgave him for it.
Sporadic booing turned a little less sporadic when Papelbon’s season became one of short-term injury and longer-term inconsistency.
When the Nats dealt for Melancon, Papelbon was quoted widely enough as
saying he was on board entirely with the deal. Six days ago, he
was captured on camera sunning himself, eyes closed, in the Nats bullpen. (For years his routine was to prepare in the clubhouse until the
late innings when he’d move to the bullpen at last.) Wags wondered whether the D.C. Strangler (a name
rumoured to be coined by outfielder
Jayson Werth) was now the D.C. Sunbather.
At any rate, it was an image too far removed from Papelbon’s former image as a competitor to a fault, as he’d been for all those Red Sox
seasons. And Rizzo said, cryptically, “His teammates love him. He’s a leader. He commands the respect of the room. He’s been a calming,
reassuring force in our clubhouse since we acquired him.”
Since we acquired him? I didn’t know calming, reassuring forces in the clubhouse saw fit to try choking MVPs in waiting during now-
meaningless games in which said MVPs-in-waiting play anyway when most regulars would be praying for days off.
The Nats couldn’t pay anyone enough to take Papelbon off their hands last winter. Papelbon had one year left on his incumbent contract,
an $11 million 2016 salary. They’ll probably have to eat about $3 million. They’ve eaten a lot worse while they’ve had him.
