Jonathan Papelbon Signs with Phillies: Will the Red Sox Sign Ryan Madson?

Six weeks after the epic September collapse that would cost Terry Francona his job. Two and a half weeks after former General Manager Theo Epstein was introduced as the President Of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The contract rumored to be in the four-year and $50 million range will set the market for closers this offseason. It's unlikely anyone will sign a more lucrative deal. Papelbon was the most attractive closer on the market.

Papelbon brought big game and big market experience coupled with a fast ball that routinely exceeds 95 miles per hour to the market. He will be 31 on opening day and has saved more than 30 games for six consecutive seasons.

His departure leaves a potentially massive void on the Boston Red Sox roster. For a team that currently sports only three starting pitchers heading into the 2012 season they now must also deal with a void at the back end of a bullpen that will surely be needed frequently next year.

Barring the promotion of young phenom Daniel Bard to the closer position the Red Sox will most likely dip into the free agent market that Papelbon used to get to Philadelphia. Who would be the most likely choice for the Red Sox?

Ryan Madson, whose job was filled by Jonathan Papelbon just a few short hours ago, may be the most likely candidate. Madson has played in a big market, with big expectations and a brutally intense fan base. For those fans that think the Boston sports talk radio market can be brutal and unforgiving I'd invite them to tune into some of the Philadelphia shows to experience vitriol that can be just as negative.

Madson is quite simply not an upgrade from Papelbon statistically speaking. He's older by a few months. He's got only one season of full-time closing experience as compared to Papelbon's six. His stats in 2011 were very good—but not as good as Papelbon's. This has to be a concern since he plays in the NL East. It is worth noting that Citizen Bank Park, where the Phillies play their home games, is in fact a ballpark which certainly favors hitters.

The Red Sox would be most likely to pursue Madson because he'd be cheaper, he'd be solid, and he's not associated with the massive collapse that Boston endured in September of 2011. Papelbon for all the success he had in Boston has not been a fantastic big game performer the last few years. He has been on the losing end of the two most heartbreaking Red Sox losses in the last three seasons.

In the 2009 playoffs he entered game three of a best-of-five series with the Red Sox down 2-0. The score was 6-4 and he promptly retired the first two batters. He wasn't able to nail down the third out until the Angels had rallied for three runs to take a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish ending the Red Sox season.

In 2011, after a nightmarish September, the Red Sox still found themselves with a chance to win the final game of the regular season and possibly win the wild card outright or at the very least force a winner-take-all one game playoff the next day.

Papelbon entered the road game in Baltimore with a 3-2 lead. He retired the first two batters on strikeouts and then proceeded to blow the game and the season by yielding the tying and walk-off winning runs. When Papelbon walked off the field that night it was his final appearance in a Red Sox uniform.

That may make many fans feel okay with his departure today but those feelings could quickly dissipate with a high profile free agent closer signing that blows up in the organization's face. Madson, with his experience in the intensity of Philadelphia, may be the best candidate to take the job if the Sox do indeed decide to go the free agent route.

Heath Bell in San Diego may have better numbers but San Diego is a pitcher's paradise and one of the least intense baseball markets in the Nation. The rest of the pool of free agents are much bigger question marks now that the Tigers' Jose Valverde has been removed from the market as well.

As of now Boston Red Sox fans probably need to prepare themselves to either see Ryan Madson or Daniel Bard entering games in the ninth inning next season. Whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen.