[yankeeempire]

Make this clear: losing papelbon might hurt the sox short term, no doubt. however, this is akin to the Pats losing Vinateri. yes, vinateri was good for a couple more years, but then his career went downhill fast

closers are a temporary thing. there are very few closers that are great for more than 6 years. there are very few mariano's and hoffman's out there.

so yea, this will suck next year. and someone is gonna have to be our gostkowski now. maybe it's bard. maybe not

as a sidenote: my vote for Bard's Nickname? A Mid-Summer's Night Closer

I agree. But this actually works in my favor. I live 15 minutes away from Citizens Bank Park and so the area i'm in is Phillies country so with all my Papelbon autos and cards i could trade will be a gold mine lol. The downside is he went to another team that is not one i really like so yea i guess i can't have my cake and eat it too but i will still support Papelbon no matter where he goes.