Sox sign Varitek, one year with an option

[browntown653]

Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox reach one-year agreement - ESPN

Hooray.

[Slyder]

If What the article says is true about him not understanding what the arby meant then he got some REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY YYYYY bad advice from his agent. He should have David Weathers the Red Sox and accepted.

[Kingdom]

Great, Junichi Tazawa will throw a no hitter now.

[cjkalt]

haha, i hope he's class A after the year

[catman]

Not really a bad deal for the Sox. As was said before, 'Tek would have done better in arbitration than this, but at least he's got a chance to show that he can still play, if he truly can.

[love_that_reefer]

Scott Boras talked Varitek out of arbitration and its sad. Red Sox needed someone better but instead retained their aging captain.

[ability]

So Varitek has turned absolutely useless offensive production into a $5m/yr. deal. All I can say is that go he didn't accept the arbitration offer.

I know that in every article you read about this deal you see how just about every Red Sox player has come out and said that the Red Sox are indeed a better team with Jason Varitek behind the plate, how he is the backbone, etc.etc.. Now who am I to disagree with the guys that are actually in the locker room, day in and day out. Well who I am is the guy rambling nonsense on this blog and I do disagree with those players.

I don't hate Jason Varitek. He's honestly one of my favorite Red Sox players of all-time. But honestly, if the Red Sox are a better team with Jason Varitek as the starting catcher than that is nothing other than a prime example of just how poor the market is for catchers in Major League Baseball. A 36 year old catcher with no redeeming offensive capabilities (.672 OPS last season). A player whose only concern able asset is being a great with the Red Sox pitching staff, a task I believe is severely over estimated as working with professionals like Beckett, Wakefield, Matsuzaka should require the reinventing of the wheel.

Also in bringing back Varitek, all the team has done is continue to put off the inevitable. Whether in one year, or two years Jason Varitek is going to leave the Red Sox. And right now they have no candidate I'd be remotely optimistic in replacing Varitek. I was originally hoping that with a clean break from Varitek would come a new signing, some new blood. But as always my uncertainty with the move comes with a general calm as I do genuinely trust Theo Epstein and the decisions he makes... this one just irks me because I knew they were going to do it despite some other more interesting options.