Varitek agrees to one year deal with Sox ($5 million)

[Disco Volante]

Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox reach one-year agreement - ESPN

Varitek back in Boston for 13th season
By Jayson Stark

It took nearly three months, but the Boston Red Sox have reached agreement to bring back catcher Jason Varitek on a one-year, $5 million contract, pending a physical and the execution of final details, two major league sources said Friday.

The contract would include a 2010 club option for $5 million. If the Red Sox decline their option, Varitek would hold a player option for $3 million.

There also is $2 million in potential incentives in the player option next year, which would be triggered if Varitek plays 80 to 120 games. If he were to play 120 games next year, he could earn $5 million even in the player option.

 

[Boston Boxer]

Re: Varitek signs one year deal with Sox ($5 million)

the saga is over...hopefully he gets into the batting cage now

 

[maverick4]

Re: Varitek signs one year deal with Sox ($5 million)

The Sox desperately need a young catcher to be ready in 1-2 yrs.

 

[Omega Supreme]

Re: Varitek signs one year deal with Sox ($5 million)

I'm just glad this ordeal is finally over, but yes...the Sox desperately need a young catcher to start learning the ropes and eventually take over. Any good catching prospects in the system right now?

 

[cupofjoe1962]

I just hope Francona will pinch hit for him in late innings with the game on the line. As bad as he is with the bat, he is worse in clutch. The worst situational hitter in baseball.

The Sox got him on their terms, which is a good thing.

Boras can't spin this deal. The Sox won & Tek lost.

 

[VJCPatriot]

About freaking time!! I think that the Red Sox' offer was more than fair considering that the market for Varitek was ZERO. At least they have a starting catcher in the fold now. Tek's offense may be sad but he still calls a pretty good game and the pitchers have a comfort level with him. Did you know that Varitek actually took some japanese lessons when he heard the Sox were getting Daisuke? Tek is clearly on the decline but I can live with him for another 2 years while we groom his replacement.

 

[patsfanofNC12]

Good job by the Red Sox in getting back at Boras, and now Tek needs to get in the batting cage, and we need to get some young catchers!

 

[CMcCartney]

Simmons: 'If you have a chance to lock up a .220 hitter for two years, you've got to do it.'

 

[WhiskeyBreath]

I'm very happy to see Tek is back in Boston for another year. I think he is going to have a better year at the plate but his days of hitting .265+ are over and I'm fine with that.

He handles the staff extremely well and is an above average defensive catcher even with his poor throwing arm. Signing Tek will allow the Sox to take their time to acquire the catcher of the future and not have to overpay.

The money is right which is a plus.

 

[BradyManny]

Glad he signed on the Sox terms - that's the only way I'd take Tek back. Now we can try and maximize his effectiveness. I hope he only plays 3 out of every 5 games, he's better on rest. It's unfortunate that both he and Bard have better splits batting righty, but giving Tek more rest and less at bats should help his average nonetheless.

 

[JoeSixPat]

While there's no question that Varitek's value was ultimately only with the Red Sox, its amazing to me how many fail to understand the extent of his value here.

Sure he only had 43 RBIs. But don't discount that by helping pitchers hold down the scores he effectively adds to his RBI total. Saving a run is as good as getting a run - especially in a close game.

Look at Tek's stats and you'll see he played 130 games. When this started a few months ago we looked at an apples to apples comparison between him and Kevin Cash. Varitek had about a .8 ERA difference than Cash.

Let's be conservative and say that Varitek saves .5 runs per game. At 130 games that's the equivilent of 65 RBIs.

Add that to his 43 and you're talking 108 RBIs.

Would folks feel a little bit better about Varitek if they looked at him as hitting 108 RBIs last year? Sure, he'd only be #2 on the team, just behind Youkalis' 115 RBIs - but 108 RBIs is still pretty good, don't you think?

 

[patsfanofNC12]

While there's no question that Varitek's value was ultimately only with the Red Sox, its amazing to me how many fail to understand the extent of his value here.

Sure he only had 43 RBIs. But don't discount that by helping pitchers hold down the scores he effectively adds to his RBI total. Saving a run is as good as getting a run - especially in a close game.

Look at Tek's stats and you'll see he played 130 games. When this started a few months ago we looked at an apples to apples comparison between him and Kevin Cash. Varitek had about a .8 ERA difference than Cash.

Let's be conservative and say that Varitek saves .5 runs per game. At 130 games that's the equivilent of 65 RBIs.

Add that to his 43 and you're talking 108 RBIs.

Would folks feel a little bit better about Varitek if they looked at him as hitting 108 RBIs last year? Sure, he'd only be #2 on the team, just behind Youkalis' 115 RBIs - but 108 RBIs is still pretty good, don't you think?

Good points!

 

[Synovia]

But don't discount that by helping pitchers hold down the scores he effectively adds to his RBI total. Saving a run is as good as getting a run - especially in a close game.

Except theres no evidence that he actually does that, and quite a lot of evidence that he has the opposite effect.


1998-2008, pitchers who had atleast 5 starts with Vtek, and some other catcher, does not include Wakefield

ERA WHIP
Varitek 4.8 1.41

Others 4.63 1.4

LyfLines: Varitek and catcher defense



Theres a ton of small sample size issues, but I think its tough to make an argument that Vtek's game calling brings down pitcher ERA.

 

[Synovia]

Look at Tek's stats and you'll see he played 130 games. When this started a few months ago we looked at an apples to apples comparison between him and Kevin Cash. Varitek had about a .8 ERA difference than Cash

Cash catches wakefield. Vtek catches lester, beckett and matsuzaka.

 

[Foley]

Except theres no evidence that he actually does that, and quite a lot of evidence that he has the opposite effect.


1998-2008, pitchers who had atleast 5 starts with Vtek, and some other catcher, does not include Wakefield

ERA WHIP
Varitek 4.8 1.41

Others 4.63 1.4

LyfLines: Varitek and catcher defense

Theres a ton of small sample size issues, but I think its tough to make an argument that Vtek's game calling brings down pitcher ERA.

The fact that Varitek had the best CERA among qualifying catchers last year is a pretty important piece of evidence. And the fact that Cash had an ERA over 5 last season when catching pitchers other than Wakefield is another important piece of evidence. And the fact that Papelbon, Okajima, Lopez, Aardsma, Delcarmen and Masterson all had better numbers when Varitek caught them as opposed to anyone else is fairly important.

Cash catches wakefield. Vtek catches lester, beckett and matsuzaka.

Cash did catch Lester and Matsuzaka a few times last year. And the splits in those starts versus Variteks starts were fairly significant in favor of Varitek.

 

[Synovia]

And the fact that Papelbon, Okajima, Lopez, Aardsma, Delcarmen and Masterson all had better numbers when Varitek caught them as opposed to anyone else is fairly important.

The problem with using just last year, is the sample sizes are just so small. Also, where are you getting those splits, they were about 50/50 IIRC. Some guys pitched better for cash, some for Vtek. In previous years, they were generally better for Mirabelli than Vtek.


Delcarmen, IIRC, had an outing against tampa bay where he gave up 2 homeruns in 2 batters on fly balls that just cleared the wall. If those turn into outs, Delcarmen's OPS numbers drop almost .400, which makes it almost impossible to quantify

 

[Synovia]

IIRC, Bill James wrote an article on Catchers' ERA, and essentially found that it wasn't useful, as the natural variation in the sample was much higher than any potential difference in the players. IIRC, standard deviation was <.1 ERA, so even if Varitek is in the top 1%, that .5 runs estimate above is by no means conservative.

 

[Foley]

The problem with using just last year, is the sample sizes are just so small. Also, where are you getting those splits, they were about 50/50 IIRC. Some guys pitched better for cash, some for Vtek. In previous years, they were generally better for Mirabelli than Vtek.

Baseball Reference has the splits. It doesn't have ERA, just BAA and OPS against. And some splits weren't as big as others, but they all had splits favoring Varitek. Okajima had an enormous split, while Papelbon's was closer to 50/50 (but still a slight edge to Varitek).

Delcarmen, IIRC, had an outing against tampa bay where he gave up 2 homeruns in 2 batters on fly balls that just cleared the wall. If those turn into outs, Delcarmen's OPS numbers drop almost .400, which makes it almost impossible to quantify

No such outing exists for Delcarmen, but I get your point. But even though they are small sample sizes, every one of them for each pitcher points to the same conclusion. When multiple sample sizes say the same thing, it's likely to have some validity.

IIRC, Bill James wrote an article on Catchers' ERA, and essentially found that it wasn't useful, as the natural variation in the sample was much higher than any potential difference in the players. IIRC, standard deviation was <.1 ERA, so even if Varitek is in the top 1%, that .5 runs estimate above is by no means conservative.

James' main criticism with CERA was that pitchers vary too much from season to season for it to be an indicator of anything. Which is why doing huge sample sizes over many years, like that person at LyfLines did, really doesn't lead to any real conclusion. Smaller sample sizes are better in this case. And, as I previously said, small sample sizes can tell a lot when they all point to a similar conclusion.

 

[Synovia]

.No such outing exists for Delcarmen, but I get your point..

Lemme go back and check. Might have the wrong pitcher. One of them had 45 ish plate appearances for Cash, and gave up back to back homeruns in the 7th or 8th inning in a game against Tampa Bay. I lost the thread that had it on SoSH

 

[Synovia]

Smaller sample sizes are better in this case. And, as I previously said, small sample sizes can tell a lot when they all point to a similar conclusion.

Possibly, but is the conclusion that Varitek is good, or Cash is bad?