• Ervin Santana of the Twins could soon become a sought-after trade target due to his talent, experience and affordability, one AL scout opines. Santana makes just $13.5MM this season and next, with a $14MM option that can vest under certain conditions. Jose Quintana attracted plenty of attention over the offseason, but Santana should emerge as a big name too if the Twins make him available — which they haven’t yet, according to Cafardo.
• Slugger Ryan Howard would like to continue playing, but has not yet received any opportunities, Cafardo writes. Howard did, of course, struggle through most of the past several seasons in Philadelphia, and he batted just .196 last year. He did hit 25 home runs in 362 plate appearances and bat .262/.324/.608 in the second half. It appears there aren’t any teams out there swayed by those numbers, however.
• Thanks to Allen Craig ($11MM) and Rusney Castillo ($10.5MM), the Red Sox’ affiliate in Pawtucket will have the largest Triple-A payroll ever. Neither are on the 40-man roster. Craig played sparingly for Pawtucket last year and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2015; he’s in what should be the last year of the $31MM contract he signed with St. Louis prior to the 2013 campaign. The Red Sox will almost certainly pay him a $1M buyout on his 2018 option once the season is over. Castillo was outrighted last season and is still owed $46MM through 2020.
• Nationals manager Dusty Baker, whose two-year contract with the club expires after the 2017 season, says he would like to continue managing beyond that. (As of last week, there weren’t any pending extension talks between Baker and the Nats.) On an unrelated note, Baker also shares his take on whether a manager can tell whether his team will be good or bad at this point in the season. “There are too many variables like injuries and different things that happen in players’ lives,” he says. “One thing though, you know when you have a bad team. When you leave spring training you know when you have a bad team and you know when you have a good team. Just hard to predict how good sometimes.”
• Former star closer Jonathan Papelbon still hasn’t decided whether he’s going to keep playing, Cafardo writes. Papelbon didn’t sign this winter while dealing with a family matter.

• The Red Sox are in reasonable position to welcome David Ortiz back to the fold if he chooses to delay retirement. Cafardo points out that there could be many factors getting in the way of an Ortiz return, like the fact that Ortiz retired in the first place, or that his return would have luxury tax ramifications for the club. But the team has avoided substantial commitments to players who might get in his way, and even Mitch Moreland, recently added on a one-year deal, might be more of a replacement for Travis Shaw’s work at first base than Ortiz’s at DH. And Ortiz, of course, recently penned a provocative Instgram post expressing excitement at the Red Sox’ acquisition of Chris Sale.
• The Red Sox would prefer to trade Clay Buchholz, but they would generate more interest from other teams if they were to make Drew Pomeranz available instead, Cafardo writes. Buchholz is set to make $13.5MM next year, while Pomeranz will make about $4.7MM, as MLBTR projected. (I’d add that Pomeranz is also controllable through 2018, while Buchholz is not.) The medicals on both pitchers “probably aren’t that great,” a rival executive says. Buchholz missed time in 2015 with an elbow injury, and Pomeranz had a forearm issue last year.
• It doesn’t sound like Jonathan Papelbon will pick a new team anytime soon. According to his agent, Seth Levinson, Papelbon is dealing with a family matter, and wants to be dedicated to that issue until it’s resolved. “We hope that people can respect his privacy during this time,” Levinson says.
• The Diamondbacks recently added retired righty Dan Haren as a “pitching strategist,” but D’backs manager Torey Lovullo says not to expect Haren to be in the public eye. “I think he’s going to be somebody behind the scenes, and that’s by his choice,” Lovullo says. “He wants to just remain behind the scenes and help our pitchers be successful. I think he has an attachment to Arizona. … So I think there’s a good starting point for him to come in and come up with a game plan as to how to reach some of these guys and how to help them as quickly as possible.”
• Rival front offices have been careful in making trades with Padres GM A.J. Preller, who recently served a 30-day suspension over a failure to disclose medical information. “I think it’s just human nature to keep your eyes open when dealing with him at least for a while,” says one executive.

• Acquiring Chris Sale would be a major rotation upgrade for the Red Sox, and since they had discussions with the White Sox about the star southpaw this summer, talks could be revisited in the offseason.  Cafardo figures Boston would have to give up Jackie Bradley Jr. (who the White Sox have long liked) and at least one of top prospects Yoan Moncada or Rafael Devers to land Sale; Chicago could also ask for Eduardo Rodriguez as part of the trade package.  It would be a heavy price to pay, though the White Sox are obviously going to shoot for the moon if they explore dealing their ace, who is both one of the game’s best pitchers and one of its best bargains thanks to his team-friendly contract.  The Red Sox would have Andrew Benintendi take over for Bradley in center field, while left field would presumably be handled by some combination of Chris Young, Brock Holt, Blake Swihart.  If not dealt, Moncada would also be in the mix for both 2017 and as a long-term answer.
• Beyond those three big areas, catcher is also something of a question mark for the Red Sox.  Boston seems to be looking at a tandem of Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez behind the plate in 2017, which would indicate an $800K buyout of Ryan Hanigan’s $3.75MM club option for the coming season.  Leon had a huge breakout at the plate but rather came back to earth over the last six weeks of the season, while Vazquez has yet to show any ability to hit Major League pitching.
• There’s still a chance the Red Sox could reunite with Jonathan Papelbon, as Cafardo figures the team will again check in with the veteran reliever.  Papelbon drew interest from several teams (including Boston) after being released by the Nationals last summer, though he didn’t sign anywhere.  There hasn’t been much Papelbon news in the last several weeks, so it’s unknown what the former closer’s plans are for 2017.
• In his sole year as Red Sox manager, Bobby Valentine wanted to use both Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard out of the bullpen.  Miller was turning to relief pitching after failing to catch on as a starter, and he went to become one of the game’s best relievers.  Bard was already a bullpen star for the Sox, though both he and the front office wanted to transition to starting pitching.  That move proved disastrous for Bard, as he developed severe control problems that have curtailed his career.  He last pitched in the bigs in 2013 and has since bounced around the minors with four different organizations.
• Marlins management will soon meet with club owner Jeffrey Loria to decide on the team’s offseason plans, which were thrown into disarray in the wake of Jose Fernandez’s tragic death.  Miami was in need of pitching even with Fernandez in the fold, and this winter’s very thin pitching market could leave the team unable to augment its impressive lineup.  Cafardo notes that rumors of the Marlins reloading the farm system by trading Giancarlo Stanton have swirled for years, though with Fernandez gone, Stanton may have become even more of a cornerstone piece for the club.

That decision makes it seem all but certain that Papelbon will not look to pitch again this season. The long-time closer is known as a fiery competitor, and it is hard to imagine he’d go through the process of trying to ramp back up without the potential for suiting up in the playoffs.

Whether or not Papelbon will seek to make a comeback in the future remains to be seen. We haven’t heard any suggestion that he is mulling retirement, of course, but there is now at least an open question. After all, Boston and other organizations did express real interest in picking up the 35-year-old after he was cut loose by the Nationals earlier this month.

According to Dombrowski, Papelbon’s failure to sign with the Red Sox or another organization are related to “his own personal reasons.” The veteran executive says that the word the team has received is that Papelbon simply is “not ready to make a decision” at this time.

While that’s certainly well within the veteran reliever’s rights, Dombrowski adds that it impacts the team’s own interest. Papelbon hasn’t appeared on a major league mound for over three weeks, and it isn’t even known just what he has been doing while working out on his own.

“So you’re in a position where you just can’t thrust him out there,” said Dombrowski. “I don’t know what he’s been doing as far as throwing is concerned. I would doubt that he’s been throwing a lot. So you would have to go back out there and build up his arm strength and be in a position to face some hitters. It’s not just inserting him like it would be if you signed him right off the bat.”

It is particularly notable, too, that Papelbon would need to sign before the end of August in order to be eligible to pitch in the post-season. Dombrowski notes that he and his representatives are surely aware of that fact, but are still electing to stand pat for the time being. “It has nothing to do with a club interest,” he said. “It’s just more, for whatever reason, his own decisions are like that.”

All told, it seems increasingly likely that the 35-year-old will be left to re-assess whether he wishes to keep pitching over the offseason. He has experienced his worst season at the major league level thus far in 2016, putting up a 4.37 ERA on the year, representing only the second time he has allowed more than three earned per nine over a single season. While Papelbon was able to punch out eight batters per nine, an improvement on his late-season run with the Nats in 2015, he also posted 3.6 BB/9 — his highest tally since his very first MLB campaign — and ran up a career-low 90.9 mph average four-seamer.

• Manager John Farrell told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable) that the Red Sox are discussing internal and external options for a pinch-running speed threat off the bench.  Top prospect Yoan Moncada has been mentioned as a possibility to fill the role, though it is “yet to be determined” if Moncada could be promoted, Farrell said.  Arguably the game’s best prospect, Moncada has hit .299/.413/.517 over a combined 476 plate appearances at the high-A and Double-A levels this season, not to mention 44 steals in 56 attempts.  His lack of experience at Triple-A wouldn’t necessarily be an obstacle if he was to be used primarily as a pinch-runner, though Moncada is such a highly-touted young player that he might not need much more (or even any) seasoning at the plate.  Moncada could also get at-bats against left-handed pitching, and maybe see some time at third base though he is still just learning the position.
• It looks like the Red Sox may exercise their $13.5MM option on Clay Buchholz for 2017 after all, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes in his weekly notes column.  Since losing his rotation job earlier this season, Buchholz has pitched well out of the bullpen, posting a 3.05 ERA and holding hitters to a .506 OPS over 20 2/3 relief innings, though he has also stepped out of the pen to deliver some quality spot starts.  The Sox are one of the few teams wealthy enough to afford $13.5MM for a swingman, and they could prefer having a familiar option on hand should they face more rotation struggles in 2017.
• Also from Cafardo’s column, he notes that some personal or family issues could be preventing from Jonathan Papelbon from signing with the Red Sox.  A reunion between the Sox and their former closer has seemed like a possibility almost as soon as Papelbon was released by the Nationals, though that was two weeks ago and no deal appears imminent despite Boston’s continued interest.  The longer he is out of action, presumably the longest it will take for Papelbon to get back into game shape in a minor league assignment, which is another issue since minor league seasons are soon wrapping up.  Papelbon would have to sign before Thursday in order to qualify for a postseason roster.
• In other Red Sox news from earlier today on MLBTR, the team talked to the White Sox about Chris Sale or Jose Quintana prior to the August 1 trade deadline, though talks didn’t materialize since Boston didn’t want to deal Jackie Bradley Jr. as part of the deal for either star lefty.

Last we checked in, a return of Papelbon to Boston — where he made his name as a big leaguer — seemed unlikely. And that may still be the case, especially since the longer Papelbon goes without joining an organization, the more time (and less opportunity) he’ll have to ramp up.

[Related: Up-to-Date Red Sox Depth Chart]

It seems that the ball remains in Papelbon’s court to move his career forward, as at least the Red Sox, and possibly other organizations, remain interested in signing him. As Dombrowski put it, “he has to decide what he wants to do.” If he has any hopes of throwing in the playoffs, moreover, Papelbon will need to sign within the next week, as post-season rosters cannot include players that joined an organization after the end of August.

Whether Papelbon and his representatives are holding out for more favorable terms, or have other considerations in mind, isn’t really known. But the long-time closer doesn’t seem to have much leverage. Teams may not be willing to give him assurances of how often he’ll pitch or in what role, if they are even willing to commit a major league deal to a hurler who had turned in a career-worst 4.37 ERA and hasn’t pitched in nearly three weeks.

Barring a string of injuries, it’s not clear that the offers will improve, at least from the Red Sox. As Dombrowski characterized things, there doesn’t appear to be much room for negotiation: “We are open, we did call, he has to decide.”

General manager Mike Hazen said earlier this week that the club was “just kind of in a wait-and-see” situation with Papelbon, whom manager John Farrell has spoken with since he hit the open market. Farrell also acknowledged then that team brass broached the idea of adding Papelbon.

“We’ve talked about it, there’s some real strong points to ’Pap’ that could be an addition here,” he said.

There wouldn’t be much financial risk in adding Papelbon, who would cost the Red Sox the prorated portion of the league minimum. But the 35-year-old is only in position to sign for a cheap sum because his effectiveness has dwindled, which caused the playoff-bound Nationals to drop him. In his final five appearances with the Nats, Papelbon’s ERA rose from 2.56 to 4.37 as he yielded nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. That’s a far cry from the Papelbon who pitched for the Red Sox from 2005-11. During that seven-year period, the 2003 fourth-round pick threw 429 1/3 frames and registered a 2.33 ERA, 10.67 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He also helped Boston to a World Series title in 2007 and converted a franchise-record 219 regular-season saves in 248 attempts – good for a sterling 88-plus percent success rate. However, Papelbon’s fastball velocity, strikeout and walk rates, and ground-ball percentage have all declined significantly since then.

Regardless of whether they bring back Papelbon, the Red Sox will have some questions at the back end of their bullpen. To name a trio of prominent ones, Junichi Tazawa has allowed seven earned runs over his past four appearances (two innings); July acquisition Fernando Abad hasn’t yet carried his success from Minnesota to Boston; and 41-year-old Koji Uehara hasn’t pitched since July 19 because of a pectoral strain. Even before landing on the disabled list, Uehara’s ERA was a career-worst 4.50 across 36 innings, during which he yielded eight home runs and posted a personal-low 19 percent ground-ball rate. Moreover, Uehara excelled at generating infield pop-ups in previous years, but that figure has dropped from 16.1 percent in 2015 to 8.2 percent this season.

As Mastrodonato notes, though, the Red Sox have potential in-house solutions in a pair of right-handers, Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly, and lefty Brian Johnson. Hembree is currently in the club’s bullpen, while Kelly and Johnson are candidates to come up when rosters expand in September.

One team that will not be considering the former star closer is the Rangers. According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, via Twitter, Texas has no interest whatsoever.

The Red Sox, though, continue to be linked to a pitcher who made his name in Boston. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports, GM Mike Hazen told WEEI’s Lou Merloni and Mike Mutnansky that the club is “just kind of in a wait-and-see” situation after having expressed interest.

Hazen did note that the Sox are looking at ways to bolster their pen, with the idea being to build as much depth as possible. It has seemingly been tough going on the fickle August trade market, making the freely-available Papelbon a more appealing target.

Though questions have understandably been raised not only as to Papelbon’s effectiveness but also whether he’d be a good clubhouse presence, his former employers and teammates haven’t shied away. After a previous statements of support from Cubs lefty Jon Lester, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz says that his former teammate would be a welcome addition, as ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber writes.

11:53am: Via Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com/CBS Chicago, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he hasn’t been told of any talks with Papelbon but also wouldn’t totally discount the notion of the right-hander joining the Cubs (Twitter link). Red Sox skipper John Farrell, meanwhile, more strongly hinted at the possibility that Papelbon could join his club (Twitter link via MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM): “We’ve talked about it, there’s some real strong points to ’Pap’ that could be an addition here.”

9:37am: Recently released Nationals right-hander Jonathan Papelbon is nearing a decision and is likely to sign with a new team in the next 24 hours, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Bradford doesn’t specify how many teams have made an offer or are showing interest in the 35-year-old.

The Nats cut Papelbon loose last week, and he’s been somewhat speculatively linked to the Cubs, while Bradford reported not long after his release that Papelbon would welcome a return to Boston. (Notably, he writes today that it’s not clear if the Sox have any interest in a reunion.) It seems likely that Papelbon will land with a contending club, as there’s little sense in a rebuilding team adding a 35-year-old to its bullpen just seven weeks before he hits free agency. And from Papelbon’s perspective, joining a club with a shot at the postseason is a logical course of action.

There are plenty of red flags surrounding Papelbon, who has seen his fastball velocity, strikeout rate, walk rate and ground-ball rate all trend in the wrong direction over the past couple of years. The result in 2016 was an earned run average that quickly ballooned from 2.56 to 4.37 after he allowed nine runs in 3 1/3 innings over his final five outings with Washington. Many have questioned Papelbon’s clubhouse presence over the years as well, particularly following last year’s dugout altercation with Bryce Harper, but Nationals teammates defended Papelbon’s character to to the media following his release, and Cubs lefty Jon Lester gave him a nice endorsement as a teammate just yesterday. Beyond that, whatever team signs Papelbon would only need to pay him the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for the remainder of the season, so the most he’d cost a new team would be just $130K through season’s end.

More from the division…

• Cardinals setup man Kevin Siegrist was pulled from last night’s game due to what he terms a “deadish feeling” in his left arm, writes MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Manager Mike Matheny called the decision to lift his left-hander from the game precautionary, adding that he’s hopeful that the team’s three scheduled off-days over the next eight days will give Siegrist’s arm a chance to recover. Siegrist missed two weeks at the beginning of July due to mononucleosis and acknowledged after last night’s game that it’s been difficult to get his arm back into shape. As Langosch points out, he’s made 50 appearances this season after leading the Majors with 81 appearances last season (plus another three in the playoffs). The Cards picked up lefty Zach Duke prior to the non-waiver deadline, which gives Matheny a left-handed alternative, but Siegrist remains a vital component of the St. Louis relief corps.
• The Reds have yet to firmly decide whether Brandon Finnegan’s long-term future is in the rotation or in the bullpen, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Manager Bryan Price told Buchanan over the weekend that the final seven or eight weeks of the season will be used to continue the club’s evaluation of Finnegan, who currently has a 4.45 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate in 129 1/3 innings. ERA estimators such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA all cast a less-favorable picture, pegging Finnegan well north of the 5.00 mark. “Based on what we have in our system, what we begin the year with next year, will we win more games with him as a starter or a reliever?” Price asked rhetorically. “I can say from my perspective that hasn’t been answered.” Buchanan points out that Anthony DeSclafani and Homer Bailey are guaranteed rotation spots in 2017, and right-hander Dan Straily has likely earned a place in the starting five as well. The Reds will also have a plethora of young arms to consider, including Robert Stephenson, Amir Garrett, Rookie Davis, John Lamb and Cody Reed. Right-handers Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, too, could re-enter that mix, though each is pitching well out of the ’pen right now and may remain there long-term.

More on St. Louis and two other NL clubs:

• Cardinals outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss, an impending free agent, told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he’d like to re-sign with the Redbirds. “Honestly, I have thought more about wanting to stay here than I have thought about where I could end up,” Moss said. “I think most guys spend their entire careers trying to get to a place like this.” A hip injury helped lead to a subpar output last year for Moss, who joined the Cardinals in a July trade with Cleveland, but he has rebounded in 2016 to post a prolific .257/.339/.563 batting line through 304 plate appearances. Moss leads the Cardinals in home runs (20) and, among major league hitters with at least 300 PAs, trails only David Ortiz in ISO (.306). Mozeliak spoke highly of Moss last week, though the GM added that it wasn’t the right time to discuss an extension. Whether with St. Louis or another team, Moss looks primed to land a raise over his current salary of $8.25MM.
• The Diamondbacks have removed left-hander Patrick Corbin from their rotation in favor of right-hander Zack Godley, tweets Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Corbin’s demotion to the bullpen comes on the heels of a Thursday start in which he surrendered eight runs (four earned) on nine hits in 1 2/3 innings of a 9-4 loss to Boston. With a 5.58 ERA through 132 1/3 innings, Corbin has unexpectedly produced poor results this year. The 2014 Tommy John surgery recipient combined to throw 293 1/3 frames of 3.47 ERA ball in 2013 and ’15, adding a 46.7 percent ground-ball rate and 7.85 K/9 against 2.18 BB/9. Although Corbin’s strikeouts (7.18) have remained in a similar range and his grounders (52.6) have increased, both his walk rate (3.88) and home run to fly ball rate (18.5 percent) have spiked. Godley, who has thrown 44 2/3 innings this year, hasn’t fared much differently than Corbin (5.24 ERA, 7.05 K/9, 2.62 BB/9, 53.5 grounder rate).
• Jonathan Papelbon didn’t have the smoothest tenure with the Nationals, evidenced by his dugout dust-up with right fielder Bryce Harper last season, but key members of the organization defended the reliever after his release Saturday (via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). “It’s always going to be tough for somebody, but he couldn’t have handled it any better, and I truly mean that,” ace Max Scherzer said of how Papelbon dealt with losing the closer role to the recently acquired Mark Melancon. Continued Scherzer, “Unfortunately, some things went sideways and some other way, but when you talk about a veteran guy in this clubhouse and what he can do for us, he’s going to be missed.” Both president/GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dusty Baker echoed Scherzer’s sentiment. “I think he handled it like a professional, like he’s done everything else here,” offered Rizzo. “He was a great teammate. He was popular with his teammates. They knew that he had their back and they had his,” stated Baker.

The 35-year-old Papelbon has had a hard time this year, with a 4.37 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 35 innings, and his struggles had deepened recently — he allowed a total of nine runs in his last five outings, and he hadn’t pitched in a week. Those struggles coincided with the Nats’ recent addition of Mark Melancon to replace him at closer, and Melancon has had great success so far in Washington. Also, while Papelbon pitched well in previous seasons despite steadily declining velocity, his average fastball continued to slow this year, dropping to 90.9 MPH five years after peaking 95.0 MPH in 2011.

The release ends Papelbon’s tenure in Washington, which began just over a year ago when they acquired him (with cash) from the Phillies for a minor leaguer. His on-field performance was satisfactory down the stretch for Washington last year, although he was involved in an ugly incident near the end of the season in which he choked teammate Bryce Harper in the dugout.

After struggling in 2016, Papelbon would have had little or no trade value, given his performance, his salary ($13MM for the year) and his dodgy clubhouse reputation. He’s due for free agency this winter. The Nationals surely gauged trade interest before releasing him, but it’s easy to imagine that there wasn’t much.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick was first to report that the Nationals were likely to make a move with Papelbon, and that he had asked to be released (all Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

More from the NL Central:

• The Cubs are a potential fit for free agent reliever Jonathan Papelbon, whom the Nationals released Saturday, per Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have an obvious familiarity with Papelbon from their days in Boston, where the executives signed and helped develop the right-hander, notes Levine. Moreover, although they had won 11 in a row before Saturday and are in possession of the majors’ best record (73-42), the Cubs do have some issues in the back of their bullpen. Excellent setup man Pedro Strop is on the shelf with a torn meniscus; fellow shutdown option Hector Rondon has a strained right triceps; Carl Edwards Jr., who entered Saturday thriving, surrendered five earned runs on four walks in 2/3 of an inning during the team’s 8-4 loss to the Cardinals; and deadline acquisition Joe Smith has yielded three home runs in his first three innings as a Cub. That would be less alarming if not for his underwhelming 2016 performance as an Angel prior to the trade.
• The Pirates remain in the thick of the playoff hunt thanks in part to bargain offseason signings David Freese, Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce, writes Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Freese and Rodriguez took one-year deals for a combined $5.5MM over the winter, while Joyce settled for a minor league contract. The three have responded by ranking third, fourth and fifth (in the previously written order) among Pirates position players in fWAR, having combined for a 4.1 total while amassing nearly 800 plate appearances. Given the strong showings of the three impending free agents, the Pirates are going to have a difficult time replicating their cheap, effective bench in 2017,  Sawchik argues.
• On bringing in relievers based on the handedness of the hitter, Reds pitching coach Mack Jenkins told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer, “It’s silly. It’s outdated.” Jenkins would rather the Reds’ decisions come as a result of batters’ weaknesses – for example, if one can’t hit a curveball, then send in a curveball specialist. And while the Reds’ bullpen has been historically woeful this season, there are reasons for optimism with the likes of Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen in the fold. Iglesias, who moved to the bullpen earlier this year because of shoulder issues, has been nearly untouchable and has recorded at least six outs in 11 of 16 appearances. With that in mind, Rosecrans wonders if the 26-year-old could become a modern-day fireman reliever. Jenkins believes Iglesias, Lorenzen and Josh Smith are capable of taking on such a role. For his part, Iglesias told Rosecrans through an interpreter, “In Cuba, you always have your starter and then comes your best reliever, you can come in the sixth and finish the game, that’s not a problem for me if they bring me into the eighth and finish the game.”

More regarding A-Rod and the majors’ two East divisions:

• For his part, Rodriguez seems unsure if he wants to continue his career. After his final game with the Yankees on Friday, the 22-year veteran was reluctant to say he was done. “For all the things I’ve been through, to have a night like tonight, I don’t know what more I can ask for,” he said (Twitter link via David Lennon of Newsday). For what it’s worth, in a survey of 24 executives from around baseball, nearly half (11) told Jayson Stark of ESPN that Rodriguez would return either this season or in time for spring training next year.
• On the heels of his Saturday release from the Nationals, free agent reliever Jonathan Papelbon would welcome a return to Boston, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI (Twitter link). Papelbon, whom the Red Sox selected in the fourth round of the 2003 draft, had a highly successful run with the club from 2005-11. During that seven-season, 429 1/3-inning span, the right-hander converted over 88 percent of save opportunities (219 of 248) and compiled a 2.33 ERA, 10.67 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He’s far less effective now, having lost a few miles per hour on his fastball and his job as Washington’s closer before it released him. However, Boston’s bullpen has posted a 4.14 second-half ERA – the sixth-highest figure in baseball – notes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Moreover, the Red Sox are without injured setup man Koji Uehara, and closer Craig Kimbrel has scuffled while dealing with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. Given their issues, Papelbon is “worth investigating,” Sox president Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
• Thanks to a clean MRI on Saturday, the Nationals will not place right fielder Bryce Harper on the disabled list, president and general manager Mike Rizzo said (via Alex Putterman of MLB.com). Harper hasn’t taken an at-bat since last Saturday because of a stiff neck, and manager Dusty Baker is wary of playing the 23-year-old in the event the team decides to place him on the DL retroactively. By playing him, Baker would reset the clock on a retroactive DL stint.
• Left-hander Jon Niese is likely to return to the Mets’ rotation at the expense of Logan Verrett, whom the team pulled from its starting five after a disastrous Friday outing, according to Troy Provost-Heron of MLB.com. In an 8-6 loss to the Padres that dropped the Mets to below .500, Verrett yielded all eight runs on six hits (including four home runs) and three walks. Verrett has thrown 60 innings as a starter this year and recorded a 6.45 ERA, 6.15 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. Niese was a capable option out of the Mets’ rotation from 2010-15, but he struggled this year with the Pirates after an offseason trade, leading Pittsburgh to deal him back to New York prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. Niese’s return to the Mets was going well until Thursday, when he gave up six earned runs on three hits and three walks in just an inning of work.