Red Sox GM on Papelbon interest: 'A little crazy can go a long way'

Unemployed right-hander Jonathan Papelbon was expected to decide on a new club Wednesday, according to a report, but with the reliever still available on the free-agent market, his services remain up for grabs.

One team with reported interest in the 35-year-old is the Boston Red Sox - the team Papelbon spent the better part of seven seasons with - which general manager Mike Hazen recently addressed with Boston.com's Ryan Hathaway.

"There’s no update as of right now," he explained of potentially going after Papelbon. "We’re just kind of in wait-and-see (mode)."

Hazen has spoken to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski about the idea of adding Papelbon to the Red Sox bullpen as a late-inning complement to closer Craig Kimbrel, but what did Hazen think of Papelbon's controversial time with the Washington Nationals?

"When the game starts to ratchet up in intensity, you know I agree, sometimes a little crazy can go a long way."

Papelbon's tenure with Washington will presumably be best remembered for a dugout altercation with reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper and an intentional plunking of Baltimore Orioles superstar Manny Machado.

Across his 12 seasons of major-league ball, Papelbon has recorded 368 saves in 417 chances to go along with an ERA of 2.44, but he's in in the midst of the worst season of his career, posting his highest ERA (4.37) and opposing team batting average (.270) since entering the big leagues in 2005.

Washington is on the hook for the entirety of the $13 million in salary owed to Papelbon.