Sox make 1-year offer to Varitek

by Drugs Delaney on Nov 24, 2008 10:20 AM EST Comment 31 comments

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the Red Sox’ initial contract offer to free agent catcher Jason Varitek this offseason was for one year. It was not determined what the monetary worth of the offer would be ...

Bradford doesn't mention how much the Sox offered, although he says it didn't come close to what Posada got ($13.1 million). That's not shocking, as Tek isn't worth that much. While I can't see Boras advising his client to take a 1-year contract, I'm glad Theo is taking a hard line. Catcher is the one true need for the Sox this off-season.

Update:

Nick Cafardo of the Globe contacted Boras, who denied that the Sox made a 1-year offer. I'm wary of anything Boras says during contract negotiations. Bradford is a fairly reliable sportswriter. So, I'm inclined to believe that the Sox did make a 1-year offer.

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Boras is going to work the Sox up somewhat, no matter where the starting point was. So, I think Theo’s 1 year offer was a good start.

Can we get Tek on the recurring $4 M option year plan?

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Nov 24, 2008 12:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'm OK with that

I can’t imagine Tek/Boras taking it.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Nov 24, 2008 1:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tek stays?

I think Tek’s future with the Sox depends a lot on how much Boras will listen to his client. You have to believe Tek wants to stay, but there’s no way Boras will give the Sox a discount.

by sggut95 on Nov 24, 2008 1:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

But at the end of the day..

The client holds the power to make whatever decision he wants.

by Charged on Nov 24, 2008 1:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

According to Cafardo, he talked to Boras and said the Sox haven’t offered anything — Don’t have the link on me at the moment, though.

OverTheMonster.com

by Randy Booth on Nov 24, 2008 2:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Randy

It’s on the post.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Nov 24, 2008 3:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

YAY!

Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 24, 2008 4:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think this is a shot across the bow...

My guess is that Theo has a pretty good offer for another catcher. As much as Varitek’s hitting has suffered, he is a big part of the Red Sox Pitching, I don’t think it isn’t a fluke that he has caught five no hitters… No matter how pitiful Varitek’s hitting was last season, he probably deserves a two year deal, mainly for his work he did in 2007…

I would probably offer Varitek two years with a three year option. I think the Sox can get by with Varitek’s lousy BA and OBP last season.

by superferret on Nov 24, 2008 7:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

4 no-nos, IIRC.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 24, 2008 7:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the correction

to try to weasel way of my mistake… He did catch that one hit 2001 game that Petey threw against the Rays

by superferret on Nov 24, 2008 7:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Double negative?

so you, “don’t think it isn’t a fluke” meaning it is a fluke that hes caught four no hitters?

by BTLove on Nov 24, 2008 8:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Typo more likely

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 24, 2008 8:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

opps

my mistake again, syntax error on my part

by superferret on Nov 24, 2008 11:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think Boras is overreaching...

I think it is a bad argument to compare Varitek upcoming contract to Posada’s contract from last year, which now looks like a big mistake. Second, The Yankees are the anomaly not the standard of baseball contracts, because they pay way over market price. Third, Posada didn’t catch much last season and may not even catch the upcoming season..

Posada was always known as a hitting catcher than a pitcher’s alter ego. Varitek’s strong points as a clubhouse lawyer and a good handler of pitchers.

Varitek is better off with $6-8 million for two years. If he wants a better deal or a longer term contract, he is better off going to club with a younger pitching staff, or a team that is going to rebuild like San Diego.

I think a problem for Boras, there is only one team that will be silly enough to pay $13 mil for Varitek and that will be the Red Sox, and if Theo is offering one year, I doubt that will happened

by superferret on Nov 24, 2008 7:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I doubt a rebuilding team would want Varitek.

by BTLove on Nov 24, 2008 8:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I bet

that Theo has something else at work here regarding catching. No I have no proof, but I doubt he’d leave a situation like this too long without addressing it.
Tek was a carcass at the plate and behind the plate. You guys forget how pathetic he was at throwing out base runners also.

by sydneysox on Nov 24, 2008 10:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I didn't forget his fate behind the plate.

Opposing runners stole 56 bases, and were only caught 16 times, running against Tek. 16/72 (total attempts) is 22.22%. Which sucks.

"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.

by 0157H7 on Nov 24, 2008 10:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Rays series was a nightmare..

it seemed like every guy who got on 1st was going to second. It was like every opposing hitter was slg. at least .500. Needless to say, I’m still angry about it. And I know if we’d made the series we would’ve cleaned up Philly, they would’ve folded like outdoor furniture.

by sydneysox on Nov 24, 2008 10:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

+1 re Philly.

The Rays’ collapse was so epic, I heard Homer’s coming back from the dead to describe it in his sequel, The Raydessey.

"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.

by 0157H7 on Nov 24, 2008 10:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hear Milton's doing the same with

PaRaydise Loster.

"no1 has time to read your long comments, are you writing a book?"

by britsoxfan on Nov 25, 2008 3:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"Better to serve in Heaven

than rule in Tampa."

"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.

by 0157H7 on Nov 25, 2008 10:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unless, perhaps, you’re George Steinbrenner.

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Nov 25, 2008 1:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Retirement, though.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 26, 2008 12:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Varitek

Honestly I think at this point the best course of action would to be to let him walk. People talk about his intangibles, but they are just that, intangible. I don’t want to be paying for a guy who has properties that may or may not be there. The man OPSd .672 last season, placing him behind such studs as Christian Guzman, Chone Figgins, Ronny Cedeno, Javier Valentin, Skip Schumaker, Clete Thomas. He also posed a SLUG% less than 30 points higher than CC Sabathia’s. If he’s willing to come back for 1yr/4mil then by all means lets take him, but any higher than that and we should simply cut ties.

by Gnick on Nov 24, 2008 11:04 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

I think offering an one year deal to Varitek is a shot across Boras’s bow that the Sox have a pretty good replacement/deal in the works. Besides, The Sox Management is probably also stating that we are probably the only ones who are interested in Varitek, and offer him a semi decent salary. he is on the verge of being a platoon catcher, so they are going to set the price. I wouldn’t be surprise if the Sox are looking and seriously pursuing Shoppich.

In 2003, The Sox offered Nomar a $12-13 million a year deal, IIRC or $60 million over four years. Nomar and his agent Arn Tellem wanted a Derek Jeter type of deal for something closer to $20 million a year, so they rejected it. Years later, Nomar was happy to get $6-8 million one year deals, and he may be out of baseball by next season.

by superferret on Nov 24, 2008 11:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rec'd,

because you’ve got it in a nutshell.

"no1 has time to read your long comments, are you writing a book?"

by britsoxfan on Nov 25, 2008 3:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just to make sure that you don't get caught looking like a dumb@$$ one day:

From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: (noun) an abstract quality or attribute (as loyalty or creativity)

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 26, 2008 12:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tek should smile a huge grin and take this offer… assuming this offer was actually made. No one else is going to offer him anywhere close to the $10 million/year we’re willing to give… and all he has to do is a take a two-years or fewer deal. If I’m Tek, my thinking is pretty simple and twofold: how much total money can I get with a longer contract with another team? Is it more than the $20 mil I can probably drag out of the Sox over two years? And the second question is, what is the likelihood that I’m playing in 2011*? Can I still get another contract? I’m sure that there are other considerations for Tek, “intangibles” like family, legacy, and possible world series rings.
But at the end of the day, the guys who have Scott Boras as their agent have him for one reason: the sport is a business and men want to get paid.

*According to PECOTA from BEFORE his abysmal 2008 season, his drop-off is projected to come prior to 2011.

Straight outta HP. Go MDC!!!
http://soxcentury.blogspot.com

by alfonzo on Nov 25, 2008 1:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs