Beckett Gets His Binky Back by Jared Carrabis
Varitek exercises $3 million option for 2010


Once again, the obvious has happened.

As first reported by the Globe's Peter Abraham via Twitter, Red Sox captain Jason Varitek has exercised the $3 million player option on his contract to return to Boston for the 2010.

As Theo Epstein mentioned, Victor Martinez is, in fact, the starting catcher for the 2010 Red Sox. Whe Varitek inked his two-year deal this past offseason, he was informed that depending on his production in the early-going in 2009, the Red Sox would go after a starting catcher if need be. If the Red Sox had to do that, then the team was going to play the better man, regardless of the C on his chest.

The $5 million club option on Varitek's contract would only be picked up if the Red Sox still felt that Tek was still viewed as a starting catcher. After an abysmal 2009 season, the decision to demote Varitek to the backup catching role was a no-brainer.

While Varitek is guaranteed his $3 million, he has performances bonuses in his contract that could potentially boost his 2010 earnings to $5 million.

The 37-year-old backstop will receive $400,000 each for reaching the plateaus of 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 games played. It's only reasonable to assume that the most he could make would be in the $400-$800K range, if that.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona has made it clear that Martinez will be catching far more than he will be playing first base in 2010. The scenario will likely play out that Martinez and Varitek will switch roles and Josh Beckett will become the new Tim Wakefield.

Not only did Martinez catch Wakefield in 2009, he made it a priority to do it well. I can only assume that Varitek will catch every fifth day and become Beckett's "Doug Mirabelli," if you will. Martinez will, of course, handle the remainder of the pitching staff.

Varitek has spent 1,439 games in a Red Sox uniform, good for ninth in team history. There will be no chance of him passing Carl Yastrzemski for playing the most games in Red Sox history (3,308 games) and Varitek has already caught more games than any other catcher in team history. He has two World Series rings and a C on his chest.

He has nothing left to accomplish, so it would not surprise me if this 2010 season is the last hurrah for our captain. He may not be the offensive player that he was in 2003, but you'll miss him when he's gone. Appreciate him while you still can.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on November 11, 2009

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