Papelbon agrees to 1 year deal, avoids arbitration

JE · Jan 21, 2009

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9108556/Papelbon-agrees-to-$6.25M-deal-with-Red-Sox

BOSTON (AP) - All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon and the Boston Red Sox agreed Tuesday to a $6.25 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration.

Left-hander Javier Lopez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.35 million.

Boston has not gone to arbitration since Theo Epstein became general manager.

Papelbon has emerged as one of baseball's top closers, saving 41 games in 46 chances last year, when he earned $800,000. He has 113 saves in 128 chances and a 1.84 ERA in 3 1/2 seasons in Boston.

The 28-year-old Papelbon is one of four pitchers to record 30 or more saves in each of his first three full seasons, joining Billy Koch, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Todd Worrell. He is 29 saves from the Red Sox mark of 132 set by Bob Stanley from 1977-89.

Papelbon's ERA is the second-lowest in major league history since 1900 among pitchers with at least 200 innings. He also is 2-0 with seven saves in the postseason and has not allowed a run in 25 innings over 16 appearances.
Lopez, 31, pitched a career-high 59 1-3 innings over 70 games last season, with a 2-0 record and 2.43 ERA while limiting left-handed hitters to a .182 batting average.
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Awesome news with Papelbon, even if it just puts off his incoming fat contract demand. And I guess its good to keep Lopez around.

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Papelbon agrees to 1 year deal, avoids arbitration

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