With a record contract in his pocket, Jonathan Papelbon is now ready to set his sights on a long-term contract with the Red Sox.

Or not.

"I like rolling the dice a little bit, Tanguay, you should know that," the All-Star closer told co-host Gary Tanguay when asked if he preferred going year-to-year in contract talks or seeking a multiyear deal during an appearance on Comcast SportsNet that will air at 6:30 p.m., and again later tonight. It was his first interview since agreeing to a $6.25 million contract, the largest amount ever earned by a closer in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

"You have to weigh so many different things [in negotiating a long-term contract], and it's so hard to put it in perspective," he said. But he admitted, "You do want that security as a player and you do want that feeling that everything's going to be okay.

"We did discuss [a multiyear deal], but I don't think we were able to see eye-to-eye on that. Which is fine. It's totally fine with me . . . I'm just going focus on this year and focus on earning what I'm worth."

Signing a long-term contract would tie Papelbon to the Red Sox long-term, and he was asked if he wanted to spend his entire career in Boston.

"Obviously, that's a tough question," he said. "It is a business and that's the nature of it. But if I feel like the Red Sox treat me fairly and I'm in a good family environment with the Red Sox, I'd love to stay with them. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. That's the way it is and you have to move on. But we'll see. We'll see."

He felt he was treated fairly in this round of negotiations.

"It went a lot smoother than expected," said Papelbon, who feels he deserves to be compensated like such high-paid relievers as Mariano Rivera and Francisco Rodriguez.
"Yeah, I do. I do. I most certainly do. I feel like the Red Sox agree with me on that."

He also made a plea for the Sox to re-sign Jason Varitek.

"There's certain players in major-league baseball . . . that you take a gamble on, whether it's age or whether it's money. Varitek is, no question about it, in that category," he said. "I don't care who you bring in or who you take out; there's certain stabilities, not only in the clubhouse but on the field as well, and he's not part of, he's the main stability in that clubhouse and on the field. Whether it's a money issue or whether it's an age issue, there's no question in my mind whatsoever. You make that gamble with a person like that. It's that simple to me."