January 24, 2009
The Return?
The Red Sox made an offer to Jason Varitek, although the details are not clear:
According to a baseball source, the Sox have formally presented an offer to Varitek's agent, Scott Boras, that could appease the catcher's desire for a second guaranteed season. While the precise value or term of the proposal was unclear, the Sox could ensure Varitek a second year by guaranteeing it outright or making it attainable through an option.
I'm not sure what the Red Sox are doing. Will Varitek catch most of the time instead of Bard? Have they abandoned trying to acquire a young, good hitting catcher from Texas? Resigning Jason may make the fans happy, but does it really improve the team? I don't think so.
Actually no, resigning Tek makes at least THIS one Sox fan very unhappy. I hate these deals given to over the hill veterans out of 'loyalty' or whatever. I hope Tek stinks, I really do. So that all other Sox fans who're still up and arms for the 'Captain' can finally see he's finished and the Sox can then just unceremoniously dump him at the end of the year.
They can't get a good ML-ready catcher through trade at the price they want, that's clear. And they think if they use Bard as their #1 catcher, their pitching staff will suffer. That's the rationale; I'm not commenting on its cogency.
The choice isn't Varitek vs. a young catcher acquired via trade. It's Varitek plus retaining the talent that would have to be given up in a trade, vs. said young catcher.
The Sox would have to give up at least two good young players -- maybe more -- to land a Saltalamacchia or Montero. Let's say, for the sake of argument, you'd have to give up Buchholz and Ellsbury. Or Buchholz, Lowrie, and Bowden. I'd rather keep them and settle for Varitek as a stopgap.
Varitek is no longer a top-flight catcher. He's more of a Brian Schneider type. But an awful lot of teams -- including some very successful teams -- settle for Brian Schneider types. If the Sox re-sign Varitek, loyalty will have nothing to do with it. If he's the starting catcher in 2009, it will be because the Sox honestly believe he's the best available option.
I think Varitek can still catch - the question is can he still hit and how much will they need him to hit.
