Jason Varitek Is Rather Expensive

Since the Boston Red Sox season came to an end a few weeks ago, one of the main stories of their offseason has been the free agency of Jason Varitek. It's not known whether or not the Red Sox captain will return to the team next year, or whether he'll be handling the pitching staff of another team like the Detroit Tigers.

In my opinion the move for Varitek that would make the most sense would be to sign a one-year deal to stay in Boston, and to keep doing so until he finally feels it's time to hang up his mask. Unfortunately Jason's agent is Scott Boras, and doing things that make sense is seldom part of his modus operandi. No, instead of a one-year deal, Boras thinks his soon to be 37-year old catcher deserves a four-year deal.

Agent Scott Boras told reporters that New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada's four-year, $52.4 million deal, which was agreed to last offseason, will serve as a benchmark for any team looking to land Varitek.

"It's probably representative, age-wise," Boras said, "and it's also representative of what a player on a winning team (is worth). You're not going to have many catchers who have the performance levels and a 60 percent winning percentage on a franchise and have won two world championships and caught four no-hitters. The idea of it is that there just aren't many in the marketplace that can lead a club like Jason Varitek and that's going to be his value."

Scott Boras just won't be happy until he has every dollar currently in circulation.

Seriously, Scott, wake up. Sure, Posada got that ridiculous deal but he did so after hitting a career high .338 with 20 homers and 90 RBI in 2007. Varitek hit .220 this year. Also, while I know that Varitek's value has nothing to do with his bat, why don't you ask the Yankees how they feel about that contract now after Posada only played in 51 games last season. I'll bet they're regretting the decision, and I'm pretty sure any team dumb enough to give Varitek a four-year deal will feel the same.

Jason Varitek Is Rather Expensive originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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