Farrell: We've talked about bringing Papelbon back

Five years after throwing his last inning in a Red Sox uniform, Jonathan Papelbon may once again be shipping up to Boston.

Granted his release by the Washington Nationals on Saturday after losing the closer's job to Mark Melancon, Papelbon is currently looking for work, and Red Sox manager John Farrell said Tuesday that the club has discussed bringing back the colorful closer who earned three All-Star appearances in Boston and helped the franchise to a World Series title in 2007.

"Those discussions have happened internally," Farrell said during an appearance on MLB Network Radio. "And nothing has been definitive at this point, but, yeah, we've talked about it. I think there's some real strong points to 'Pap' that could be an addition here. Whether or not that takes place, that remains to be seen, but we'll see how this unfolds."

Farrell's comments come barely 48 hours after Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Papelbon is "worth looking into," and not three days after a source told WEEI's Rob Bradford that the 35-year-old would welcome a return to Boston.

Farrell later revealed that he's personally spoken with Papelbon at least once. There's a familiarity between them, as Farrell worked with the reliever when he was still the Red Sox pitching coach.

The Red Sox aren't the only team interested in Papelbon, though - the 12-year veteran is reportedly drawing "strong interest" from across the league and is expected to decide where he'll sign in the next 24 hours.

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Papelbon, who fashioned a 2.33 ERA and notched 219 saves with the Red Sox between 2005 and 2011, has endured the worst season of his career this summer, stumbling to a career-worst 4.37 ERA with a 1.46 WHIP in 37 appearances amid a continued decline in his fastball velocity.