Sox on verge of wasting (I mean signing) Tek to a 2 year deal.

[Brickowski]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

[yall hate]

I havent read all of the recent comments about Tek calling a good game or not. But here is my opinion...Whether he does or not, the pitchers believe he does.  that extra confidence is likely just as important as whether it is true or not.

I do believe he does call a good game.  He knows every hitter they are playing, he knows what they like to swing at and what they dont like to swing it. 

His hitting sucks, but in all actuality, to get a catcher who has a 260-270 avg for example, really isnt a lot of extra hits throughout the year.  his defense makes up for the hole in the lineup.

[winsomme]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

why is it either/or?

why can't they trade for a young catcher anyway?

and i'm pretty much immune to "not over-paying" arguments at this point with the money spent to get DiceK, JD and Lugo....and the money they were willing to spend to get Tex...

money is simply not a problem in signing Tek....the squabbling about money on Tek had much more to do with Boras the anything else.

[yall hate]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

yea, his name is clay buchholz and they dont want to include him in a trade.  It is pretty well documented that the rangers have said it is clay or no one else. 

The sox were willing to pay jason 10-11 for the year (through arb).  Paying him 5 and not completely bruising his ego is better then the team saving 4 million bucks, which really is nothing to them.

[winsomme]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

yea, his name is clay buchholz and they dont want to include him in a trade.  It is pretty well documented that the rangers have said it is clay or no one else. 

The sox were willing to pay jason 10-11 for the year (through arb).  Paying him 5 and not completely bruising his ego is better then the team saving 4 million bucks, which really is nothing to them.

there is zero downside for the Sox here.....If Tek does bounce back they get to keep him next year for the same price. total bargain...

Tek gave in clearly because he wanted to play in Boston...and i for one am glad to have him back.

the alternatives were not good. not for team that wants to be a serious contender...

[moiso]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

why is it either/or?

why can't they trade for a young catcher anyway?

and i'm pretty much immune to "not over-paying" arguments at this point with the money spent to get DiceK, JD and Lugo....and the money they were willing to spend to get Tex...

money is simply not a problem in signing Tek....the squabbling about money on Tek had much more to do with Boras the anything else.

I agree with this- get a young catcher to split the time with Tek and learn from him.  Tek is too old anyway to keep catching 120-130 games.  One reason the sox may not aquire Saltamaccia, etc, is that I hear they are very interested in Joe Maur when he becomes a free agent in 2010.  That would be awesome, the guy is an MVP candidate every year.

[nickagneta]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

Now this I agree with. I think the contract is fair but I also think they could have gotten him for significantly less. Not a million but much less. I also don't understand the not dealing of a pitching prospect for a catching prospect. The Sox overvalue their pitching prospects. Right now the hardest thing to find is a young catching prospect with plus abilities in defense, pitch calling, preparation and offensive ability. Every team has great pitching prospects. Very few have great catching prospects.

[yall hate]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

Now this I agree with. I think the contract is fair but I also think they could have gotten him for significantly less. Not a million but much less. I also don't understand the not dealing of a pitching prospect for a catching prospect. The Sox overvalue their pitching prospects. Right now the hardest thing to find is a young catching prospect with plus abilities in defense, pitch calling, preparation and offensive ability. Every team has great pitching prospects. Very few have great catching prospects.

yes and no.  again, if we are talking about the Texas catchers we must limit the 'pitching prospects' to Buchholz.  Buchholz is probably 'safer' then salty to begin with, and Buchholz has the potential to be a 1 or 2 in this league.  Salty may or may not need to switch to 1b at some point down the road (the reports are that he is poor defensively).  Teagarden is better defensively but less upside with the offense. 

i dont think the sox are being overprotective with Clay, I think they simply know his value is a lot more then this last year showed and they arent going to give him away for a catcher who may or may not end up being that good.

[winsomme]

The sox should have cut the umbilical chord and acquired a promising young catcher.  Alternatively, they should have offered Varitek a million bucks at most.  That's what the Dodgers are paying Brad Ausmus, another excellent defensive catcher (and clubhouse leader) whose offensive stats were very similar to Varitek's.

The Sox had plenty of assets (particularly young pitchers) to get a guy like Teagarden or Saltalamacchia from Texas.

Now this I agree with. I think the contract is fair but I also think they could have gotten him for significantly less. Not a million but much less. I also don't understand the not dealing of a pitching prospect for a catching prospect. The Sox overvalue their pitching prospects. Right now the hardest thing to find is a young catching prospect with plus abilities in defense, pitch calling, preparation and offensive ability. Every team has great pitching prospects. Very few have great catching prospects.

i just don't see the logic of trading for a prospect to be the catcher this year.

Seems like an insane gamble to me. I think that is why the Sox upped their offer to Tek.

Are you really going to risk an entire season on a totally unproven catcher? I mean Salt hasn't even convinced people that he will be a catcher in the Bigs...

Now that Tek is back, that seems like the time to roll the dice on a young catcher...

[Brickowski]

What the Sox are rolling the dice on is convincing Joe Maurer to sign with them instead of the Yankees when Maurer becomes a free agent in 2010.

[winsomme]

What the Sox are rolling the dice on is convincing Joe Maurer to sign with them instead of the Yankees when Maurer becomes a free agent in 2010.

that's not a roll of the dice....that's who's willing to offer more money....

they were talking about this on EEI the other day (every day probably) and the point was made (which i agree with) that unless they are willing to out bid the Yanks, they are probably going to have to trade for him.

Personally i'd rather they trade for a young guy and let him play behind Tek for the next two seasons...

[Brickowski]

If they were going to trade for a young guy, they wouldn't have resigned Varitek.  Varitek was a stopgap, and if they think that a young catcher will now be easier to obtain in a trade, they're kidding themselves.

The young catching talent is thin.  There's Maurer, Russell Martin of the Dodgers, and a bunch of question marks.  The Sox' farm system has produced no one.

[yall hate]

If they were going to trade for a young guy, they wouldn't have resigned Varitek.  Varitek was a stopgap, and if they think that a young catcher will now be easier to obtain in a trade, they're kidding themselves.

The young catching talent is thin.  There's Maurer, Russell Martin of the Dodgers, and a bunch of question marks.  The Sox' farm system has produced no one.

First, very few teams have generated young catchers.  The sox have Exposito who looks fairly promising, although that is still a long way away. 

Second, I believe they will still be looking to add a young catcher, not necessarily because it would make it easier to acquire one, but now they have the young guys mentor locked up.
see:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/
specifically:

In the longer term, the Varitek signing now gives the Sox valuable time to continue their search for a long-term replacement, something the club still hopes to accomplish through trade. According to a baseball source, the Sox still could make a deal for a young, developing catcher before the start of the season, though Varitek's presence now gives them the luxury of extending that search into midyear (just before or at the annual July 31 trading deadline) and even beyond the 2009 season.

To this point, the Sox' most serious discussions for a catcher have taken place with the Texas Rangers (for Jarrod Saltalamacchia) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (for Miguel Montero), but the Sox found the asking price of both teams to be too great. All of that made it more critical for the club to lock up Varitek, highly regarded by pitchers, coaches and managers, and who has been with the Sox since joining them via trade in July 1997.

Now, with Varitek all but certain to end his career with the Red Sox, the team can more freely go about finding his replacement without as much urgency.

[LB3533]

The problem with Tek is, will he bounce back next year?

We have a couple glaring weaknesses in the lineup at Catcher and SS, maybe even Centerfield.

[Big Ticket]

The problem with Tek is, will he bounce back next year?

We have a couple glaring weaknesses in the lineup at Catcher and SS, maybe even Centerfield.

Ah yes... the tough life of a Red Sox fan... losing sleep over a lineup with maybe 2 or 3 holes in it...