free agent

Varitek, Sox Together Again. Officially.

/ Sara / 1 Comment


Finally, the Varitek saga, which has kept us all hitting “refresh” on google news/Boston Globe/ESPN, whatever, is over.

Reports are that Jason Varitek has agreed to the one
year , $5 million dollar contract with the club/player options for the
second year. All I have to say is hal-le-freaking-lu-jah!

    Of course, now that the Captain is back,
what am I ever going to obsess about? I mean, spring training doesn’t
officially start until Feb 14th, which is two weeks from now. And yes,
there is that little game called the Superbowl on
Sunday, and I can obsess about the Cassel questions and the NFL off-season.

    Note to Patriots, if you are even listening: half the Baltimore
defense are unrestricted free agents this year. Grab as many as you can
get your hands on. Please.

As for the Cassel/Brady drama…maybe that will be
enough to keep me occupied now that the Tek saga is done, and the Sox
unlikely to make any more off-season moves. But of course, since its
the Patriots, the amount of information we’ll be able to get on the
Brady/Cassel situation (how is Tom’s knee, are the Pats keeping Cassel,
are they going to tag him…etc) will be slim to none.
 
Thanks for the closed-mouth attitude, Bill. Most days, I don’t mind
that, but when you want to know something, the Patriots can be
down-right annoying.

    Back to baseball. Red Sox Nation rejoice, we have a catcher. I know
Tek was like an automatic out last season, but its not like there’s
anyone out there who can step in and take his place. Now we’ll just
ease Tek out of the position, introduce a new catcher, get the staff acclimated to the new guy, so that we can phase Tek out in 2010. And
you never know, he could have a brilliant season in 2009 and bounce
back a little. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

Just A Quick Blurb/Rant

/ Sara / Leave a comment

    So I’m sitting here, refreshing my google news (sorted by date) on Jason Varitek. No word yet, and its just killing me. This is beyond ridiculous! Tek needs to take the contract, if only for my sanity and team morale. Yes, all you nay-sayers, team morale will plummet like the stock market after Obama’s election.
  
     Plus, our little pitchers need someone experienced on the backstop, and they would all be very sad to see Tek go.

    I know, I know, I’ve already said all this a million times, but its just so annoying! I mean, the Yankees have spent half a billion dollars on talent this year, so despite A-Rod’s obsession with Jeter, they’ll be competitive. Again. Are you telling me that we can’t spend a measly $5 million to bring back the gritty soul of the team? Seriously!

    Okay, that ends my rant. I’ll post again the minute I hear any news of Tek, one way or the other.

Back In The Backstop: The Case For Tek

/ Sara / Leave a comment

Of the Red Sox active roster, the average age of the pitching staff
is 28. Take out the highest and lowest two ages to avoid any one larger
or smaller number significantly affecting the stats, and the age you
get is 26.7.

That’s a young staff, and with such a young staff,
we need, and everyone say it with me, a VETERAN catcher. I really think
Schilling said it best. The Sox need Tek so they can wean our lovely young pitching staff off the Captain and acclimate them to the “catcher of the future”.

pitchers.jpg

This may take some time. In the big leagues, Bowden, Buchholz, Masterson,
Lester, Delcarmen, and Paps have never had a different catcher. It has
always been Varitek. You are talking about a potential ace, several
potential starters, and a firecracker of a closer who have developed a
really close relationship with the Captain. Schilling also went on to
say that Varitek “knows some of us better than we know ourselves.”

Strong words. Now, we know the Sox have a standing offer on the table for Tek,
and we know it is not the $10-$12 million he would have gotten earlier,
however, I have to believe that for his pride’s sake alone (a Captain
needs a bit of pride to be a good leader!) they’re going to offer $2-$5
million over a year or two. I’d say two with an option for a third
year, because though he doesn’t need to be starting, you could have the
“catcher of the future” training under one of the greatest catchers of
all time.

Now what several people have suggested (and while I believe its none of our business, I think it might be true) is that Tek is waiting for his divorce to be finalized before agreeing to any deal. It makes logical sense from a financial stand-point.

You
know what else makes logical sense? A collective firing of the Prince
of Darkness (Boras) by all the Free Agents his greed has royally
screwed over this off season. Or the baseball owners pool their money
and have him “taken care of”.

Regardless, I think Tek will be
back in the backstop come spring training, with some new young guy
watching his every move, trying to learn. And who knows, maybe he’ll
have a comeback year. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

Off Season Rumblings

/ Sara / Leave a comment

This off-season has been somewhat “quiet” in terms of the Red Sox. The moves of the teams in the AL East are all important because that might be the toughest division in the league. 

The Rays have made a few good moves, but are (mostly) sticking with what worked next year. 

The Yankees have found a problem and done what the Yankees do best: throw money at it. Why else do you think this was the first time in forever that they didn’t make the playoffs? That’s what the Yankees do. So as long as nothing happens to CC, Teixiera, or any of their other additions, they should be right back in the mix.

The Red Sox have been comparatively quiet. They got stung a little on the Teixiera deal, and right now they have no catcher, they made a few solid, cheep deals that should do nothing but help, and if they don’t, its not like they’ll have $10 million dollars on the bench with just one player out. 

They have a few loose ends to tie up, but they look to be in the mix for the AL East again this year. Pedroia and Youk will be back, Ellsbury and Lester can only get better, Beckett will be Beckett, Dice-K, despite his heart-attack inducing style, always does well, and who knows? Buchholz could be a lot better than he was last year, everyone seems to think so. 

First, they need to bring back Varitek. It looks like it’s probably going to happen because no one else wants him, and the Red Sox, despite their “we don’t care attitude” would love to have him back. I think, to, that if they bring him back, he’ll have something to prove, and maybe his bat will improve. I could be wrong, I’m no expert, but I like being hopeful. 

Finally, on that vein of hope, I have to say that I’m optimistic about Papi and Mike Lowell this season. I think Mike will be fine, and Big Papi will bounce back. Call me crazy, but with everyone healthy, the Red Sox are poised to be a big threat in the AL East, despite the Yankees trying to buy every free agent in sight. Think the fans are going to miss the ‘stash? 

So, my prediction is for one heck of a season, with the Rays, Yankees, and Sox coming down to the last few weeks to see who takes the crown and who takes the Wild Card.