- The Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year $9.35 million deal today. The deal could reach $9.5 million with incentives and it is the highest contract given to a reliever with 4 years or less of big league time. Papelbon, 29 years old, has a 1.84 career ERA in 268 appearances. He will have one year of arbitration left.
- Reliever Manny Delcarmen also avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year $905,000 contract that can increase $15,000 if he makes 65 appearances. MDC, who is 28, had 64 appearance with a 4.53 ERA last season but declined sharply as the season progressed. He will resume middle relief duties and has 2 years of arbitration remaining.
- Yet another Sox reliever, Ramon Ramirez avoided arbitration. Ramirez was more than we expected after the Sox acquired him for Coco Crisp last off season. He signed a $1.235 million deal and has two years of arbitration left. Accumulating a 2.84 ERA last season, he will go into the season behind Okajima and Bard for set-up duties.
- Jeremy Hermida, acquired earlier this winter, and the Sox have not agreed to a deal as of this post. Hermida requested $3.85 million while the Sox offered $2.95 million. Near $4 million is a lot for a fourth outfielder. If no deal is reached then the two sides will go to an arbitration hearing. No Sox player has reached arbitration in Theo Epstein's tenure.
CELTICS
- Kevin Garnett (hyperextended knee) returned to practice today. The team wants to wait to see how he responds over the next few days, and he could return Friday. KG has missed the past 9 games.
- There is a rumor circulating around the NBA that the Celtics could be interested in Knicks backup guard Nate Robinson. Robinson is signed to a one-year $4 million deal, and could come at the price of expiring Celtics contracts as they look to position themselves for the big free agent class this summer. Nate provides instant offense off the bench averaging 13 PPG in just 23 minutes, but has missed multiple games this season due to "character issues" and at times mental mistakes. Would you want Nate on the Celtics?
I wouldn't want him assuming Marquis Daniels is back relatively soon...
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Out bench has been off lately, but it's directly correlated with the absence of Marquis and for that matter Rasheed. I think Nate goes against the Celtics' "ubuntu" philosophy.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Nate makes the guard play on the bench that much better.
I hate Nate Robinson.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about the anti-ubuntu philosophy too Carl. He's one of those flashy players that wouldn't mold well with the team, and I couldn't see him and Doc getting along. Even though Sheed is a head case, he isn't flashy like Nate.
Having said that we literally have no backup PG considering we cut ties with Lester Hudson and to be honest Rayray and Eddie aren't true PG's.
We do need a late season acquisition at the point I believe to make a serious playoff run. (a la sammy cassel '07)
Stop and think, what would happen if Rondo went down?
(a la sammy cassel '08) ***
ReplyDeleteAgreed. If Rondo went down, the Celtics would be screwed. It's hard to determine if the talent and position depth he brings overrides the other issues.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think this is very speculatory at this point.
cmonnn nate is good!! he has the ability to score 20 off the bench on any given night and can handle the ball pretty well
ReplyDeletenate robinson > marquis daniels.
and nate robinson is like eddie house on steroids....eddie house can come off the bench and hit some 3's and it seems like doc likes eddie so why wouldnt he like nate??? as far as character issues he's on the knicks and if he came to the celtics kg would tell him to stfu and play his role
ReplyDelete