Jason Varitek

True - Jason Varitek was named the MVP of last year's Red Sox team by the players and will be a very valuable part of this year's team's attempt to win the first World Series for Boston since 1918.

Also true - Jason Varitek is 32 years old, a free agent at the end of this year who experienced a significant drop-off in productivity in the second half of last season and his agent is Scott Boras.

Yesterday (or the day before - I forget) the Boston Globe had an article that wrote that the Red Sox had made a "rock bottom" three-year offer to Jason Varitek. (How much do you want to bet that this tidbit was leaked by Boras or one of his minions?)

Today - Bob Hohler has an article on Jason Varitek and his impending free agency. I love Bob Hohler and I think combined with Gordon Edes - he gives the Globe the best one-two baseball coverage in the US. However, I do have to take exception to a couple of things that he wrote for today's paper.

Hohler wrote:

Varitek, who turns 32 April 11, set career highs last year with 25 home runs and 85 RBIs as he maintained his standing as one of the premier game-callers and clubhouse leaders in baseball. His camp believes he has greater potential value than 32-year-old Ivan Rodriguez, who signed over the winter with the Tigers for $40 million over four years. The Sox are not expected to invest that much in Varitek, but Epstein indicated the team has not abandoned trying to retain him.

Hohler must know that the I-Rod contract was signed with significant caveats about I-Rod's health (specifically his back) and I-Rod's contract was geared more to help sell tickets than anything else. Also, Rodriguez is considered by most to be a Hall of Famer who is also a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and 1999 American League MVP who is only half a year older than Varitek. This is sort of like comparing Trot Nixon to Manny Ramirez. (No disrespect meant to either Varitek or Nixon.)

Next Hohler wrote:

The only major league catcher who hit more homers, logged a higher slugging percentage, and knocked in more runs than Varitek last year was Jorge Posada of the Yankees. And Sox pitchers rank Varitek among the best all-around catchers in baseball.

Ummm...Bob - Javy Lopez had 18 more HR, 24 more RBI and his slugging was .687 compared to Varitek's .512. Lopez signed with Baltimore for $22.5 million over 3 years. Wouldn't it make more sense to compare Varitek's potential contract to Lopez' $7.5 million per year vs. I-Rod's $10 million per year? Also it should be pointed out that when it came time for the players to pick a back-up catcher for the All-Star game that Oakland's Ramon Hernandez was chosen over Varitek. I'm not belittling Varitek's value - just trying to put it into better context.

We don't know what the Red Sox offer was to Varitek but I would guess that it was in the range of Trot Nixon's 3-year $19.5 million contract. I don't blame the Red Sox if they wait out the year to see if Varitek's production slides or if he gets injured because 32 is old for a catcher. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox immediately offer Varitek arbitration at the end of the season but let's be real - players don't sign with Scott Boras unless they plan to test the market in order to get every last dollar available.