Well Thursday was a huge day for the Boston Red Sox. We finally found out who our closer is going to be and that man is Jonathan Papelbon. If you would like to hear the interview that Don Orsillo did with Papelbon, click here.

Much to no one’s surprise, Curt Schilling will take the mound for opening day again for the second time in a row. What is surprising is that he didn’t break the news to everyone through his blog like he did with telling everyone Papelbon was going to be the closer. The official announcement for Papelbon being named the closer came after Thursday’s exhibition game against the Phillies while Schilling had announced it to the world much earlier in the day. As I stated in an earlier post, I didn’t know that Schilling’s blog was now the official home for Red Sox news. Nothing against what he is doing because personally I think it’s great. It’s just that when you have some inside information like that maybe you elude to the fact that something might happen instead of flat out telling everyone. Of course if ESPN had read his blog before the game, they wouldn’t have reported the fact that Papelbon might be named closer. Jason, one of my radio partners in crime over at My Baseball Bias, tells us about how ESPN couldn’t even get the facts straight about how many consecutive times Papelbon threw in games.

With Papelbon moving back to the rotation (he was slated to be the 4th starter), Julian Tavarez will take over the vacated spot in the rotation as the 5th starter. Tim Wakefield, who was the 5th starter, moves into the 4th spot of Papelbon’s. Tavarez had said that he wanted to be a starter before spring training but with the Red Sox having a plethora of starters after the addition of Daisuke Matsuzaka, his name was put into the closers mix. Terry Francona tells us what he thinks about Tavarez moving back to the rotation after going 3-0 with an ERA just over 4.00 in 6 starts at the end of last season.

“He likes to pitch but he likes to start,” Francona said. “He wants the ball. He said, ‘Just say when.’ ”

So now the rest of the rotation sets up like this. Beckett will start the second game of the year on April 4th against the Kansas City Royals and Matsuzaka will start on the 5th against the Royals. Wakefield will take the mound against the Texas Rangers on the 6th, Tavarez on the 7th and Schilling on the 8th setting up Beckett to make the start on opening day at Fenway on the 12th. Kind of sucks that I will miss Matsuzaka pitch by a day but the Red Sox are doing the smart thing by not having him pitch his first game in Boston on such an emotional day. Plus with the Seattle Mariners in town, the first batter he would have faced would have been another Japanese superstar in Ichiro. Something to note, Tavarez will throw a simulated game on April 3 to try and get his arm ready for starting after pitching in a relief role all spring training.

I have to wonder if someone slipped something into a drink of Manny Ramirez in the past few days. He is suddenly speaking to members of the media instead of speaking to thru Julian Tavarez, which he has been doing recently. Here is what Manny had to say to the media on Thursday.

Manny: “Hey, did you check out eBay this morning?”

Reporter: “No, did you?”

Manny: “I just got to sell the grill and that’s it. I don’t need this game. I don’t have to play anymore — just sell the grill.”

“That’s all right. Don’t worry; you don’t miss anything.”

Reporter: Weren’t you suppose to travel with the team to Clearwater?

Manny: “I know. But you know, when you start getting old like me, sometimes you have to stay behind.”

Reporter: How are you feeling this spring?

Manny: “Good, nothing different, the same — everything’s the same for me, just enjoying my life and hanging with this guy right here,” he said, as he nodded toward team assistant Ino Guerrero sitting near an adjacent locker.

Reporter: How do you feel about all the attention the team has been receiving from the Japanese and international media?

Manny: “I don’t know. I don’t pay any mind to it.”

Reporter: How is your new Japanese teammate fitting in with the team?

Manny: “Who? I don’t know.” saying he has not yet spoken to pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Reporter: How is your Japanese?

Manny: “I don’t know Japanese”

Reporter: Are you bothered when it is said or written that you don’t care or your not a team player for reporting after his teammates to Spring Training?

Manny: “No, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not mad. Who cares?”

Reporter: How does you see the team’s chances this season?

Manny: “I don’t know. The only thing I worry about is me getting prepared for the season.”

Reporter: And are you ready?

Manny: “Like always, just doing my thing and trying to get ready.”

Reporter: What did you do in the offseason?

Manny: “The same thing I did for seven years, just travel and work out.”

Reporter: Who is the team to beat this year?

Manny: “I don’t know. I’m just trying to beat everybody — just trying to have a good season.”

Reporter: Are the Yankees the team to beat?

Manny: “I don’t know. The Yankees? For what?” I don’t worry about the Yankees. I just worry about us. I worry about who we’re going to play — that’s it. I don’t make it a big deal. I live my life simple, a day at a time — one day at a time.

Manny: “OK, got to go now.”

After his session in the cages, he added a footnote to the conversation.

Manny: “Oh, the thing I forgot to tell you about the grill. The grill people called my agent; they want me to do a commercial for them.

Where is the new found talking to the media coming from? I can’t answer that. But to me, it is nice to see Manny open up a little bit. I highly doubt that you will see Manny speaking too much during the season just as he always has done. I am sure he doesn’t want the distraction as he continues his work of becoming the greatest hitter of all time.

Well after all the speculation this spring training, the Red Sox finally have a closer. After all the rumors and speculation that was going around on Thursday, the Red Sox made it official and have named Jonathan Papelbon the team’s closer for this season and maybe the rest of his career.

This is what Papelbon and Terry Francona had to say about the decision.

Francona:
On what went into the decision: ”We made the decision with extensive, intense and passionate talks. He’s going to move to the bullpen.”

On what was said at the end of last season, about the health risks to Papelbon if he continued relieving: “I know what was said at the end of last season. I was there.”

On how the Sox came to change their minds: ”When we got to camp, he went through a barrage of medical updates. The more I watched, the more I asked a lot of questions. He’s off the charts with his strength.”

Papelbon:
On what he’s been thinking during camp: ”Obviously I’ve been thinking about this all spring. When I got to spring training, I wasn’t sleeping well. There was always that feeling I wanted to close. I went to our captain (Jason Varitek), I said, ‘Tek, I’m not sleeping good at night. I want to close.’ ”

On whether or not the team is forcing the move: ”This was a decision I made. This had nothing to do with (Mike) Timlin being healthy or us not having (an established) closer.”

On his endurance in the role: ”There’s no reason I can’t pitch into October, from my standpoint or a physical standpoint.”

On how he feels about the role: ”It all boiled down to the simple fact that I broke into the league as a closer. Basically, my heart is as a closer. In my heart I still had feelings for going to close. I want to do this rest of the career. I want to be Mariano Rivera.”

Some interesting words by Papelbon. He wants to do this for “the rest of his career and wants to be Mariano Rivera.” What does that mean for the “closer of the future” Craig Hansen. If the Red Sox had been trying to get him ready to be a closer and Papelbon is the closer for the long-term, what is Hansen’s role going to be? Plus you have the “reliever of the future” Bryce Cox, who is a year or so away from the big leagues. Where does he fit in?

This is what I would like to see. I would like to see the Red Sox reopen the talks with the Rockies about Todd Helton. The Rockies will have a decision to make at the end of the season with their closer, Brian Fuentes. He is eligible for free agency at the end of the season and could command a big contract if he continues to be successful. This could make the deal enticing to both the Red Sox and Rockies. The Red Sox would be able to get something of value for Hansen that will make their ballclub better and the Rockies would have a very economically priced closer for the 2008 season. As for Cox, I could see him being developed as Papelbon’s set up guy in the same way that Mariano learned the ropes of closing by setting up before becoming one of the game’s most dominant closers.

As far as Papelbon’s replacement in the rotation, that is going to be Julian Tavarez. He was pretty good towards the end of the season going 3-0 in 6 starts with an ERA just over 4.00. Plus the Red Sox have Kyle Snyder who could also start, plus Jon Lester who was 7-2 last season for the Sox before he was diagnosed with cancer. Plus Kasan Gabbard, who had an excellent spring, could fill the role as well.

I am excited for this. It’s one thing for a starting pitcher to pitch his heart out and have the bullpen blow the game. It’s great for the psyche knowing that you will have Papelbon down in the bullpen finishing off your games. Everyone knows how good Papelbon can be and will probably be the same. It might be hard to replace the 200 innings he was supposed to start, but at least for probably around 80 innings, you know your going to get good numbers. So now it’s finding the right pitcher to put up good numbers in those other 120 innings. As long as whomever is the 5th starter puts up good numbers, the Red Sox should be in good shape for the upcoming season.