Papelbon and Bard

[Inukchuk]

...if Mariano Rivera suddenly lost his splitter...

I don't think that would impact his ERA in the slightest...

[sox 06]

and has lost velocity on his fastball;

In his past couple of appearances his fastball has been in the 95-97MPH range.

[bigken117]

With the uneasiness in the Sox pen it's not hard to envision Paps as the Sox closer through the end of his contract. And Theo is shrewd enough (hopefully) to not trade Paps which would significantly weaken the pen, and then not give him the 10-14 mil annual that likely awaits him in FA. And Francona puts enough trust in his players to not take them out of their comfort zone.

[freeling_prideful]

I don't actually think there's anything wrong with Papelbon at all -- if anything, he is a better pitcher this year than last year. He's lowered his contact rate, upped his swinging strike rate, and is throwing more first-pitch strikes than he was in either of the two previous years. While the results haven't quite been there, I think he will bounce back (both this season and next).

Also, for all the talk of his fastball velocity, his average is higher than 05-07, and equal to 09, so is it really that big a deal? He's still checking in at 94.7 mph.