Rangers Make Papelbon's No-Trade List

There might not be a more mentally unstable, hot-button closer in all of baseball than Jonathan Papelbon.

It's true, the edginess is simply part of being a closer as most are a bit quirky, but Papelbon is a different animal.

He's also very effective, but is combustible at times, too. When he was traded to the Washington Nationals in the Phillies' firesale last season, his no-trade clause carried over to the Nationals. At the end of the season, as the Nationals' high hopes were fading away, Papelbon got into a dugout skirmish with superstar Bryce Harper, who is the Nationals' franchise.

Now, the Nationals are apparently trying to shop Papelbon and dump his edginess off to someone else.

That's where the Rangers come in. No, they don't need a high-dollar closer. Their bullpen is loaded, but if they did, they likely wouldn't be able to get Papelbon, and that's a good thing.

That's because Papelbon's 15-team no-trade list was revealed on Tuesday and included the Rangers, along with Oakland A's and several other teams. So could Papelbon end up in the AL West? He'd make some sense for the Los Angeles Angels and especially the Houston Astros, who were in on Aroldis Chapman before his trade to the Dodgers fell apart after domestic violence claims arose.

So stay away, Papelbon. That's perfectly fine with the Rangers.

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