Do you think the Sox should trade Jonathan Papelbon in the offseason?

I think if they were going to do it, this offseason would be the time to do so.They’re in a unique situation where they would be dealing from strength, in that, they have a plethora of talented arms in the pen as it is. No question, Papelbon is one of the elite closers in baseball and they don’t come along often and it’s a rarity to have one who came up in your own system.People complained about shaky saves from him this year and the walks he allowed, but at the end of the day, he only blew three saves, posted a sub-2.00 ERA and was pretty much a lock to close out the game, which is all you can ask for.The reasons why a trade would make sense are as follow: He’s already made it pretty clear that he’s not looking to sign a long term deal until he can become a free agent in two years. You have someone who could potentially close in Daniel Bard and if he isn’t ready, you still have the option on Billy Wager, who would stay given the guarantee that he would be the closer.You have other needs that you might not be able to fill in free agency, such as shortstop, left field and first base/third base, depending on where you play Youkilis.The Sox have plenty of prospects, but most of their really good chips are in A or AA ball right now, so a proven commodity such as Papelbon would mean that you give up fewer prospects.So, I don’t think that you HAVE to trade him, but I can see it making a lot of sense to do so.