The Captain Files: Wake Returns by Jared Carrabis
Varitek files for free agency, Red Sox exercise Wakefield's option for '09

That title kind of sounds like a crime TV show a little bit.

Just 24 hours apart, two of the longest tenured players on the 2008 Red Sox roster made the Boston headlines. Both Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek are proud owners of not one, but two Red Sox World Series rings. While the future for one of the two players has been revealed, the future of the other remains to be unseen.

On Thursday, October 30, 2008, the Red Sox captain, Jason Varitek, filed for free agency. Thursday was of course the first day that players were eligible to file for free agency as the veteran with over a decade of baseball in Boston under his belt now looks to test the market. The Red Sox now have a 15-day window to negotiate exclusively with Varitek and his agent Scott Boras. If a deal is not done in that span of 15 days then Varitek is free to shop his services to any Major League team that he so chooses.

The Detroit Tigers have already shown interest in Varitek after losing their veteran catcher via trade during the 2008 trade deadline to the New York Yankees. The team with the second highest payroll in all of baseball behind that of the New York Yankees did not even make the postseason in 2008. Adding Jason Varitek to their club may just be the right amount of veteran leadership to get all of the talent in that clubhouse focused on the goal of becoming a good team, not just a mediocre team.

With Scott Boras pulling all the strings throughout the course of Varitek’s free agency, expect some pretty ridiculous demands to be thrown around to teams that show interest. Unless Varitek himself wants nothing more than to return to the Red Sox (which might not be the case if he wants to test the market) then do not expect a deal to get done during the 15-day window. Varitek will almost certainly wait until he can be eligible to sign with any team so that more offers will be thrown his way.

When Varitek was a free agent following the conclusion of the magical 2004 season, the Boston Red Sox offered him a 4-year, $40 million dollar contract along with the new title of team captain. Well, it’s four years later and the captain is four years older and his numbers have not quite been what they used to be around the time of the ink drying on his previous contract.

General manager, Theo Epstein, realizes that Varitek is an important piece to this organization and will do what he can while staying within the boundaries of what is best for the club moving forward to bring Jason Varitek back. “He's an important part of the organization -- there's no doubt about that,” Theo Epstein said when he spoke to the media at the conclusion of the 2008 season. “Obviously he's coming off a year that wasn't his best, but he's important nonetheless. Now, he's a free agent and we'll be talking to him. We have an obligation to explore all our options. We do that with every position.”

Currently, Jason Varitek is 36 years old and will turn 37 at the start of the 2009 season. In comparison to recent contracts handed out to 37-year-old catchers, Jorge Posada was rewarded with a 4-year, $52.4 million contract. The only difference between Posada and Varitek would be the fact that he had just come off the best season of his career by hitting .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBI. His .426 on base percentage was a career high and he also slugged a career best .543. Needless to say, Jason Varitek did not come close to those numbers and will most likely not get a four-year contract and nothing close to a $13.1 annual salary here in Boston.

If the Red Sox really hope to bring Jason Varitek back, there’s a good chance that Boras will not allow his client to accept an offer less than what he has made in his previous contract. Why? Because other teams will certainly match or maybe even raise the asking price if they are desperate enough for a proven catcher with the market being so scarce. My best guess is that the Red Sox will try and stick to the annual pay of $10 million per year but knock off the last two years that were included in his previous contract. A 2-year deal with an option for a third could be the route to take with Varitek as he is nearing the end of his career and almost certainly would like to retire as a member of the Red Sox.

I think it’s only fair to be reasonable with him in negotiations and not pull a “Joe Torre situation” where we offer him a ridiculous contract just to say that we tried. Almost similar to the Johnny Damon situation in the 05-06 situation. The only difference here is that we know that Jason Varitek wants to stay and most likely won’t go running for the biggest contract like Damon did. The Red Sox value Varitek more than they valued Damon moving forward into 2006 and beyond and that is why I firmly believe that Jason Varitek has not seen his last at bat in a Red Sox uniform.

On Halloween, the Red Sox announced that they have exercised the $4 million option remaining on the contract of veteran right-hander, Tim Wakefield. The 42-year-old set to turn 43 in August will suit up for his seventeenth Major League season in 2009 and it will be his fifteenth with the Boston Red Sox. Fifteen seasons with the organization allows him to keep his title of the longest tenured player on the Boston Red Sox. Although his record was under .500 at 10-11, he was still able to throw 181 innings in 30 starts for the Red Sox in 2008.

Though some say it’s time for Wakefield to retire with his recent shoulder problems, his history of eating innings proves otherwise. In his past six seasons with Boston, he has averaged a total of 188 innings pitched per season and has exceeded his average all but two seasons. Those two seasons were 2006 when injuries limited him to 140 innings pitched and in 2008 when he fell just short but still threw a solid 181 innings for the Red Sox. With an annual salary of $4 million dollars, he is considered to be one of the biggest bargains in the game.

Published on October 31, 2008

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