Closer thinks team is saving too much

FORT MYERS, Fla. - With virtually no leverage in his contract situation, Jonathan Papelbon will probably end up with a 2008 salary north of Bobby Jenks's $550,000 and quite south of the $900,000 Ryan Howard got when the Phillies slugger had about the same service time.

But that didn't stop Papelbon from making some outspoken comments yesterday on his contract status, which will need to be resolved by next Tuesday's deadline. His agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, were in Fort Myers to discuss the situation with the Red Sox, but nothing was finalized. Papelbon did confirm that the sides won't be able to even get close on a long-term deal.

"It's a tough situation for me right now because basically I'm at a point to where I feel like the position I'm in, there's a certain standard that needs to be put in place here," Papelbon said. "I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that standard needs to be set and I'm the one to set that standard. And I don't think that the Red Sox are really necessarily seeing eye to eye with me on that subject right now. Hopefully, we can get somewhere.

"We're chugging away at this thing and we want to get it done, believe me, and we can move on. At the same time, I feel a certain obligation to not only myself and my family to make the money that I deserve, but for the game of baseball. Mariano Rivera has been doing it for the past 10 years. With me coming up behind him, I feel a certain obligation to do the same."

Rivera re-signed with the Yankees this offseason, getting a three-year deal for $45 million.

Papelbon said the contract has not been weighing on him, that he's far more concerned with the addition of a slider, a third pitch in his repertoire. He said at times last year he wished for another pitch to be able to throw in any count, at any batter. In the Sox' 5-3 win over the Pirates yesterday, Papelbon got two of the outs in a 1-2-3 fourth inning on his slider.

But that won't help with a contract. Not eligible for arbitration until next season, Papelbon has little to do but wait until the Red Sox decide on his salary, which was $425,500 last season. The Sox have the right to renew his contract.

"Yeah, I'm at the mercy of the club right now, to a certain extent," Papelbon said. "But it's just a matter of ironing out the numbers and we haven't ironed them out yet. Hopefully, we can get to a mutual agreement. I don't want to renew. I don't want to, but if I have to, I have to. That's just the cold hard facts of it."

A man of routine

He's in by about 6 or 6:15 a.m., done by 9:30 (30-40 exercises completed), and home before the rest of the team begins workouts.

In a spring training completely different from any he's had, Curt Schilling, rehabbing his right shoulder, has focused on the cardio and strength training work he needs to get into the program set up by the Red Sox that they think will provide him a chance to pitch this season. He works with assistant trainer Mike Reinold, then strength and conditioning coach Dave Page, then finally massage therapist Russell Nua.

As to when he'll see progress, Schilling said that simply isn't the way his mind is working.

"It's what I have to do," he said. "I don't have a choice. I don't really think like that. I have a job to do and I come in and do it as good as I can do it and I move on to the next day.

"I don't sit around and dwell about what could be and how it could be different and what if this happened. That has no positive effect on anything I'm doing, so I don't think like that.

"I get here and I have a routine and I get through it as best as I can get through. When the day is over, I know what's on the agenda tomorrow, and I'll get ready to do that tomorrow.

"It's no different than in a normal spring training in that sense. I have to do what I have to do. Whether I like it or not's not really relevant. It's just what needs to be done."

No tipping

Daisuke Matsuzaka was pleased with his three innings of work yesterday, in which he threw 47 pitches and allowed one run on two hits and two walks, before following that up with 30 pitches in the bullpen. Pitching coach John Farrell has said that Matsuzaka was tipping his changeup last season, so Matsuzaka has been working on the pitch during spring training. "Just because it's a good pitch this time of year doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be a good pitch throughout the regular season," Matsuzaka said. "I spoke to a few pitchers that have good changeups as to the grip on the ball and as to form and things like that. I think I arranged that advice into my own style. But for now, it definitely feels good." Farrell said that it has become a "much more usable pitch." . . . Jacoby Ellsbury has yet to get a hit in eight spring training at-bats, though he does have two RBIs.

Scrimmage time

The Sox' attempt to schedule a B game Saturday, before their matchup with the Marlins at City of Palms Park, was unsuccessful. They were turned down by the Twins and Reds, so the team will bring some minor leaguers over for a four-inning camp game and get their pitchers some innings. Starters have yet to be announced . . . Manager Terry Francona said he anticipates Julio Lugo being ready to play tomorrow, after sitting out yesterday with a tight back. Coco Crisp, though, may not be back today, as he's dealing with a tender groin . . . It appears that Bartolo Colon will throw at least one more side session before facing live hitters, though he could end up throwing two. Lining him up to pitch, say, in one of the exhibition games against Los Angeles has been complicated by Matsuzaka's wife's pregnancy, since she is due March 19. "He's been very compliant," Francona said of Colon. "But he's chomping at the bit. He looks like he's probably ready to start doing that stuff, but we want the progression to be the same as everybody else."