Jonathan Papelbon won’t be blowing any more games for the Washington Nationals in 2015.
The team announced on Monday that Papelbon had dropped his appeal of a three-game suspension earned by throwing at Manny Machado last week, and that he’d been suspended an additional four games by the team for his role in the dugout fight with Bryce Harper on Sunday.
The Washington Nationals have suspended RHP Jonathan Papelbon: pic.twitter.com/KYKHvllsaw
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 28, 2015
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Papelbon has thrown his last pitch as a member of the Nationals, 2016 salary be damned.
We made the argument earlier today that the team needs to cut ties with both Papelbon and manager Matt Williams, and suspending Papelbon for the rest of the regular season might be the first step towards moving on from him – even if the team will be on the hook for his entire $11 million salary next season.