The Nest

Varitek, Jason – Catcher – Boston Red Sox(?)

After watching the Red Sox captain strike out 122 times this season, I watch with great interest as he filed for free agency this week. Now the Sox have 15 days to make a deal with him or he can join any team (who will have him). He deserves all the credit in the world for his work behind the plate but let’s get real. To the opposing pitching staff, #33 was a tremendous break in an otherwise fearsome lineup. It amounted to negating the purpose of the DH altogether. A productive out for Varitek became a strikeout with less than two out because at least he didn’t tap into another double play and take a baserunner back to the dugout with him.

Scott Boras to the rescue

His agent, Scott Boras, the super agent whose legendary tough negotiator skills have netted millions for clients like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Daisuke Matsuzaka is trying to give Varitek as much leverage as possible by giving the Red Sox a deadline but I don’t believe Theo Epstein, the Sox GM is going to be intimidated or pressured. Unless there really are no other decent catchers in the market, I believe the Rochester, Michigan native will be sporting another uniform next spring. If for some reason he does call Boston home next season, you can bet he won’t be cashing any überpaychecks.

Backup Role?

The reality for Jason is that unless there’s a team out there REALLY hurting for a catcher, his chances of being picked up for any real money or anything other than a backup role are slim. He’s a dead-spot in the lineup and no team wants that. Even a National League team wouldn’t want him because they already have a liability with the pitcher in the lineup – they don’t need two.

This is one of those times when I can’t really, as I have in the past, lay all the blame on Francona for being too loyal to his catcher. He was wearing the C on his jersey after all. The more I think about it, I like the idea of taking V-man off Francona’s hands. I believe it handcuffed him into not pinch-hitting for him on many occasions when it clearly called for it. As an aside, why on earth did they ever trade Doug Mirabelli? Wakefield struggled enough with a catch he was comfortable with and to take his comfort level to a new low?…let’s just say Wakefield (and the Sox) suffered for it.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on what goes down for Varitek in the next couple weeks. I wish him well but I’d rather our pitchers oppose him that be caught by him.

varitek francona baseball mirabelli

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