Our options at catcher.

[Dojji]

1: Re-sign Tek to a 2 year contract.

 

This makes more sense than it sounds like. Varitek's chances of a bounceback year are greater than nil, especially if you can find a way to take some lefthanded at bats away from him. This is the option that is the least risky from a clubhouse chemistry perspective

 

2: Promote Kottaras, Brown, or both (platoon) as the replacement starting catcher.

 

Basically, replace a position that has very short major league depth from the farm and hope for the best from a pair of rookies at a crucial position. It's got some flaws, but it has the advantage of being, by far, the simplest and least expensive option to implement.

 

3: Scoop up someone's disappointing veteran (ex: Johjima) and hope they turn it around.

 

I like the idea of specifically Johjima, since he's in his prime (32,) he's got Clement breathing down his neck and his performacne was marred largely by a BABIP about .070 lower than his two previous years. That, and Seattle has a lot of holes that we can fill with spare parts. It's a solid big-market move.

 

4: Trade the farm for someone's successful veteran

 

This is probably the least good option, since successful veterans require a large load of prospects and usually have a contract on top of that. It does have the charm of having the best chance of being a move that grants us an effective catcher.

 

5: Trade for a young player.

 

Younster-for-youngster swaps don't really work very well. The Rangers will be looking for young pitching, but I think they want guys who are more proven, especially if it's going to be Teagarden on the block and not, say, Laird. It's a good way to pick up an inexpensive player but rookies can be pretty volatile.

 

In order of the way I want to do things, I'd say:

 

Promote rookie

Trade for Johjima

Re-sign Tek

Trade for young stud C

Trade for established veteran C.

[BoSox21]

Theo kind of hinted that they'll probably have to hold onto Varitek

 

"There’s not a lot of elite catching out there. At the same time, that changes the standards from what you’re looking for. What we like to do is be league-average at least in every position, and then be above league-average at as many positions as we can. The state of catching shifts the target a little bit. What’s league-average? What’s above league-average? If we do our jobs well, we’ll be at least league-average at every position. It’s been well-documented there’s not a ton of catching out there. We’ll try to figure it out. "

[TheKilo]

http://www.talksox.com/forum/talk-sox-forum/11425-offseason-catcher.html

 

Didn't you just make this thread?

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Theo kind of hinted that they'll probably have to hold onto Varitek

IMO, that's the reason he's going to aggressively pursue another (probably young) catcher.

 

 

 

 

He won't come right out and tell the truth about this sort of thing.

[redsoxrules]

The way Vtek is going he'll be batting under .200 next year . if they sign him it better be no more than 5 mil a year

[BoSox21]

He's also hesitant to overpay for a player outside of the organization with prospects which leads me to believe it's either Varitek, an MiLB platoon or a washed-up free agent catcher no one else wants

[Dojji]

http://www.talksox.com/forum/talk-sox-forum/11425-offseason-catcher.html

 

Didn't you just make this thread?

 

 

Did I? Woops.

 

Victim of my own attention span I guess.

[Dojji]

The way Vtek is going he'll be batting under .200 next year . if they sign him it better be no more than 5 mil a year

 

Varitek has been bouncing around between .700 and .800 OPS for his entire career. He's only slightly below his previous worst year. I wouldn't rule out a bounceback.

[Cocos Disciples]

He'll be 37 next year, its hard to imagine him improving significantly. And he had a .672 OPS this year, below the .700-.800 area he's normally in. I have zero confidence in him.

[TheKilo]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/10/23/boras_states_his_case_for_keeping_varitek/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Red+Sox+News

 

Boras did not offer any specific figures Varitek is aiming for, but he outlined an argument, based on leadership and defense, for why Varitek is still an elite catcher.

 

When Varitek signed his four-year contract at the end of 2004, the fourth year was a sticking point. Boras seemingly indicated that Varitek, who will turn 37 in April, will want another multiyear deal this offseason.

 

"If you think about his physical conditioning, he's got many more years to play in this game," Boras said last night. "When he's out there, this club is decisively different. You're really talking about a guy that is inherently valuable. In this day and time, what is a player like that worth?

 

"We're in the process of finalizing data intake. We have to look at the marketplace. We have to look at similarly situated All-Star players, who they are in stature to their team. There are many comparisons. We're certainly going to look at how those players [were] received in the free agent market and use that as that watermark."

 

Peace out, Jason

[jacksonianmarch]

I can smell the blood in the water already. Shaug is gonna go nuts soon. "Vtek's leadership is overrated, he cannot hit, his arm is a noodle, his pitching staff handles themselves, they dont need Vtek anymore, etc". If Boras is asking for a multiyr deal, theo should shake his hand, say, you were awesome, but we're going in another direction and move on. Tek on anything more than a 1 yr deal is a massive gamble. You may be looking back on the days of the .220AVG and .672OPS fondly after he flirts with the mendoza line for a few yrs

[riverside sluggers]

2 years/$3-5 per is the most they should consider. If the Sox dont trade for a catching prospect, Brown or Kottaras should take over the backup/platoon role. Both have experience at catching the knuckleball and have considerably more pop than Cash

[Dojji]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/10/23/boras_states_his_case_for_keeping_varitek/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Red+Sox+News

 

 

 

Peace out, Jason

 

I think you misread that. They're looking at similarly situated all star catchers and their relationship with the team to determine how they should handle Varitek, not necessarily which of those other star catchers they should acquire.

[BSN07]

What would it take to pry Clement from Seattle?

[Dojji]

You'd have a better shot at Johjima. An offensive-starved team like Seattle would have to be profoundly stupid to deal an offensive prospect like Clement at a prime position for anything but a premium return of multiple solid offensive future pieces.

 

I've said this before, but I actually do like the idea of going for Johjima. Kottaras provides us some depth if the pickup goes sour, and after a sluggish year we might be able to pick him up for little more than a contract dump a la Mike Lowell.

 

Johjima has pretty good discipline for all he doesn't walk much (he's sort of like Yadier Molina that way) and he's got a cannon arm. If his BABIP comes back up to the .290 range it was his first 2 years in the bigs he should be a .260/.330/.440 type, which is an improvement on any other option available to us and probably one of the better long term moves. And I like the idea as an intangible of a Japanese catcher to help work with Daisuke and Oki.

[BoSox21]

What would it take to pry Clement from Seattle?

 

Heathcliff Slocumb

[Dojji]

Well no, if the Mariners have one thing right it's their bullpen. Perhaps the offensive equivalent of Heathcliff Slocumb though

 

[pipedream]

 

Delcarmen, Carter, Navarro, Bowden, Bard for Clement and Bedard. Use Masterson at the start of the season until Bedard's ready. Spring rotation, Beckett-Lester-Daisuke-Masterson-Wake. By the ASB, Beckett-Lester-Bedard-Daisuke-Buchholz with Wake in the pen.

 

Offseason over.

 

[/pipedream]

[BoSox21]

Well no' date=' if the Mariners have one thing right it's their bullpen. Perhaps the offensive equivalent of Heathcliff Slocumb though[/quote']

 

its a joke dude....

[TheKilo]

I think you misread that. They're looking at similarly situated all star catchers and their relationship with the team to determine how they should handle Varitek' date=' not necessarily which of those other star catchers they should acquire.[/quote']

 

I think you misread it.

 

Boras is going to be looking for a comparable deal for Varitek that other All Star catchers (read - Jorge Posada) got - and then throw in what he supposedly means to the Sox on top of all that.

[Dojji]

Yeah of course he will, that's his job. I'm pretty sure Theo is going to at least offer him a contract at some kind of value, whether it's enough for his tastes or not is purely up to him. He's told Boras to accept a lesser offer in order to stay with Boston before.