Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 30, 2009
Coast to Coast

There's some confusion on the Varitek deadline. Is it Eastern or Pacific time?

Update: Or maye there's no deadline at all.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:14 AM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Interesting.

I wonder whether Boras told his client earlier this week, "Don't worry, Jason; in my long experience I've found that club ultimatums are 98% bull***".

I understand the temptation to lay down a drop-dead moment in advance, and I certainly understand the motivation to ignore it when the time comes if you feel you're close to a deal. But the combination does not look good.

Posted by: James at January 30, 2009 09:24 AM

By refusing to provide even so much as a simple "yes" or "no" answer, only thing I'm left to wonder is if Varitek believes that there's still a couple more bridges left to burn in Boston.

I'm not sure how he thinks this helps his standing with other teams, either. First he rejects $10 mil. a year. Then, after finding out nobody else would sign him, he rejects a subsequent $5 mill. a year offer? What will that make other potential suitors think?

Posted by: tas at January 30, 2009 11:49 AM

Varitek's OPS track over the past five years: .872-.856-.725-.787-.672. And the last season was his final contract year, which should have bumped the numbers (in the other direction).

The guy turns 37 in April. He's caught almost 1300 games. I'm not a great believer in Bill James' alleged "genetic limit" on the number of games for a catcher, but is Varitek really gonna reverse this trend? I know about veteran leadership and all the rest of the announcer blather, but why would any other team be interested?

Posted by: Casey Abell at January 30, 2009 12:37 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?