Hi-Tek talks

This Jason Varitek situation is a fascinating one, and one which should still get a bit more fascinating each day that passes by and The Red Sox captain is still unsigned. What makes it fascinating is the 3 month long game of chicken the Sox and Varitek have been playing, while the puppet master, Varitek's agent Scott Boras, seems to be tugging the wrong strings in this scenario.

Boras and Varitek (Boratek) thought they were in for a winter of being courted by potential suitors, that didn't happen, especially after Boratek declined arbitration. Now in order for Varitek to sign with any other team, that team would have to ship two draft picks to Boston (something Varitek claims he did not know, something an agent should ensure the player knows when presented with arbitration). That, apparently, has the rest of MLB thinking, "a little to rich for my blood boys." So now in lieu of several suitors, there is one...and there really was only one suitor, the Boston Red Sox.

Here is where we stand now. Varitek wants to be a member of the Red Sox and the Red Sox still want to have Varitek work their pitching staff. However, at this point I think Boratek need the Red Sox more than the Red Sox need Boratek, not to say Tek is dispensible, but the truth of the matter remains Varitek will be 37 in April, and the Sox need to get younger at that position, and Varitek's skills are steadily diminishing.

Given the lack of viable options at the catcher position, the Sox still need to (and I am confident they will) sign Jason Varitek, if it is a guaranteed second year that is holding up this deal, get it done. The second year around the ballpark of $8 million isn't going to hinder the Sox during the 2010 season, and even should Varitek go down with an injury or his bat continues to slow down (I hope it doesn't slow down to below the .220 he batted in '08) who better to tutor the two catching prospects in the Sox organization, George Kottaras or Dusty Brown, than Tek?

The fact Varitek is closer to 40 than 30 presents the very real scenario of needing to get younger behind the dish, and there is a feeling that Kottaras, Brown, or returning backstop Josh Bard are not every day catchers, so what is the next move? Easy, sign Tek for 2 years. This gives the Sox some time for a couple of things to happen, trade for a young catcher or continue to develop Kotarras or Brown. Either way, the Sox need to sign Tek, there is nothing else out there. Sure there has been talk of trading for some younger guys such as Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden from Texas or Miguel Montero from Arizona, which regardless of what happens with Tek, they Sox should still make one of those moves if the asking price makes sense, but other than that there isn't much else out there.

What we have here is a win, win, lose situation if the Sox sign Tek. Tek comes back, he gets at least a 2 year deal (in my opinion it will be 2 yrs) and the Sox get their captain back, win/win. The loss comes for Boras, who already lost some face in the wake of these negotiations when Varitek and Sox owner John Henry had a 90 minute face to face meeting to try to get the ball rolling again without Boras present. Not that I have ever met any of the parties involved in these negotiations, but you have to think Varitek feels a bit baited and switched, it is telling to me that Tek didn't know if he declined arbitration the Sox would get two draft picks, even Tek has to know he's not worth that much. Boras and the Red Sox had a solid working relationship which began to sour with the antics of former Left Fielder, Manny Ramirez. Manny wanted out of his contract with Boston so he could hit the Free Agent market this offseason and secure at least a 4 year deal as opposed to the two options at $20 million the Sox held, Manny threw the quintessential "take my ball and go home" fit. This forced the Sox to trade Manny to LA at the 2008 trading deadline (where they got Jason Bay who filled in nicely in Left). My feeling is the Boras over calculated what teams would be willing to sign Ramirez for and overplayed his hand in that situation as well as the Tek scenario. Point of interest, Manny is still on the market in late January, who would have thunk it?. The relationship continued to hit a sour note with the Mark Teixira negotiations when the Sox were the front runners to land the slugging first baseman, until he signed with the Sox primary rivals, the New York Yankees. Boras cut off his nose to spite his face, had Boras worked with the Sox to get Tex, he could have gotten Tek signed at a higher price in an unofficial package, and then the Yanks would have been desperate and signed Manny to a better deal than what he is going to get now.

This has to be a tough situation for Varitek who is one of the most loyal people in the game, loyal to the team where he caught 4 no hitters, and won two World Series, and loyal to the agent who 4 years ago got him a 4 year $40 million contract at the age of 33. Tek wants to retire in Boston, and I am confident he is going to retire in Boston, but all parties involved need to take a step back and take off their rose colored glasses and be able to call a spade and get this deal done.