Over the last two weeks, Jonathan Papelbon threw 46 pitches in four appearances and earned a bit more than $800,000. In that time, the best batter he faced was either Eric Hinske or David DeJesus. In that time, he was never asked to protect anything smaller than a two-run lead. He was never asked to pitch with a runner already on base. He was never asked to pitch more than one inning. As his team was losing hard-fought games against division rivals -- as his team was repeatedly blowing games in the eighth inning behind mediocre pitchers -- he was not asked to do more than watch.
During that same period of time, Chad Qualls and Michael Schwimer -- who combined will make about as much money all year as Papelbon has already pocketed -- were repeatedly asked to pitch to the middle of opposition lineups in high-leverage situations. They were asked to pitch out of difficult situations. When necessary, they were asked to pitch multiple innings, and in fact, Schwimer and Brian Sanches were pushed to more than 50 pitches -- Sanches even being asked to bat so he could do so -- while a pitcher deemed worthy of a four-year, $50-million contract was available