Papelbon

[bulldogcountry1]

What's the deal there? Do teams look at him as a clubhouse cancer? I know he wasn't as effective as he used to be, but he had a few more saves in his arm. It's like he just disappeared.

[smootness]

He's 36, he wasn't good last year, he has clearly been declining, and teams would probably rather not have to deal with him. I think it's that simple.

[Dawg61]

I'm guessing there's a large gap between what Paps expects to get paid and what teams are actually willing to pay him

[MStateDawg]

I doubt he's interested. He told me last fall he was done. He's got plenty of money and a couple rings. Great career.

[Tbonewannabe]

He had lost a good bit on his fastball. He probably wouldn't want to be a middle relief guy and he would have to take a huge paycut to keep playing. He had a great career. It will be interesting to see what he does now.

[dawgs]

He's 36, he wasn't good last year, he has clearly been declining, and teams would probably rather not have to deal with him. I think it's that simple.

Pretty much sums it up. His talent no longer outweighs his other issues enough to justify the cost. Way cheaper and probably more effective to fill out your bullpen with some 20something guys that flamed out as starters.

[Mr todd French]

He didn't disappear. I saw him hitting ground balls to what looked like about 9 or 10 year olds last Wednesday at the ball park here in Hattiesburg.