Washington Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon isn't exactly a super-popular guy in the Nation's Capital right now. This probably has to do with the fact that his last appearance in a Nationals uniform included him trying to choke out the soon-to-be 2015 National League MVP Bryce Harper and then getting touched up by the Phillies for five runs immediately after. While he's still a pretty effective pitcher, his personality is probably one of the reasons why the Nats are rumored to be trying to move the pitcher on the trade market.
However, the Nationals are going to have a decent-sized hurdle ahead of them if they're serious about trading Papelbon. He reportedly has a no-trade clause in his contract, and the the list of teams on that no-trade clause is pretty long.
A provision in Papelbon's contract allows him to submit an annual list of 17 teams to which he can't be traded without his consent. ESPN has obtained Papelbon's no-trade list for 2015, and it includes the following 17 clubs where he can block a deal: Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays.
The remaining 12 teams that Papelbon can be traded to without his consent, according to the list: Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
Over half of Major League Baseball is on that list. Guess who isn't on that list? That's right, your Atlanta Braves. Now, does this mean that the Braves are going to pursue a potential trade for Jonathan Papelbon? Absolutely not. Again, Papelbon is still one of the better closers in the game, and he'll probably want to go somewhere where he'll be able to close games on a regular basis. If the Braves are going to be as bad as we all figure that they'll be in 2016, then this wouldn't be an optimal spot for Papelbon.
With that being said, I can't be the only one here who is a bit weirded out by the fact that the Braves managed to make Papelbon's golden list of 12 teams here. Apparently if he got traded here, he'd be like "Yeah, I'm cool with this. Go ahead and trade me there! ATL, baby! Woo!" Of course, there's no way of knowing for sure what his motivations are for putting certain teams/cities on his no-trade list unless you were to ask him about it in a conversation. That probably won't be happening for anybody here any time soon, so all we're left to do is guess.
The Eye on Baseball over at CBS Sports guessed that it might be because he grew up in Mississippi, and that's probably my best guess as well. Even with the current state that the Braves are in, the "local" draw is still a big deal for some players, and maybe that's the case with Papelbon. Who knows?
Either way, we absolutely should not expect the Braves and Nationals to link up on a trade for Papelbon, even if Atlanta happened to avoid being on his no-trade list. The main question here is which team will actually be willing to take Papelbon's skill and personality? That'll be a legit question for the other eleven teams on the list, that's for sure.