Who Will Be the Sox Opening Day Catcher?

[a700hitter]

I still think it will be Tek.

[example1]

I think and hope it will be Tek. Short deal and plan for the future. Have Bard/Kottaras/Brown battle out for backup role.

[riverside sluggers]

With John Henry meeting with Tek in Atlanta (as we speak), good bet he'll be the starting catcher for at least one more season

[Cocos Disciples]

Miguel Montero.

[msubulldogs21]

Varitek.

[italstallianion]

I also put Varitek. I think Varitek will sign with us and for around the same rate or slightly reduced. I think we'd still get a trade done for a young catcher and not even play Bard, which is ok because he had a non-guaranteed contract. That's just me though, but I still think that Varitek would be the starting catcher, especially considering the other possible options.

[BSN07]

Tek. The fact they get to avoid Boras only helps.

 

 

 

I still think there could be a trade even if he is signed.

[Cocos Disciples]

Tek. The fact they get to avoid Boras only helps.

 

 

 

I still think there could be a trade even if he is signed.

 

That would leave three catchers, though. Why even bother signing Tek if you can make a trade?

[JimEdHOF2009]

I think and hope it will be Tek. Short deal and plan for the future. Have Bard/Kottaras/Brown battle out for backup role.

 

Tek's bat is soooo slow. He cannot touch a fastball thrown above his knees 92 MPH or higher. He is basically an automatic out when facing above average pitching...unless they make horrific mistakes.

 

Color me disappointed if we go into Spring Training with the CORPSE of Jason Varitek as our starting catcher...

 

On the bright-side, he handles the staff well and with no Lugo...he will be the only weak spot in the lineup.

[italstallianion]

That would leave three catchers' date=' though. Why even bother signing Tek if you can make a trade?[/quote']

 

For the record Bard's contract is a non guaranteed one. You can still sign Varitek and trade for a better mentor.

 

Or you can use one of the other catchers in a trade for a greater one, which is much less likely, but also doable.

[WhiskeyBreath]

I think it will be Tek and I'm hoping he will be. My ideal scenario even though it seems unlikely will be to sign Tek for a year or maybe 2 and trade for a catching prospect.

[Cocos Disciples]

Why is that more advantageous than trading for a young catcher now?

[example1]

Tek's bat is soooo slow. He cannot touch a fastball thrown above his knees 92 MPH or higher. He is basically an automatic out when facing above average pitching...unless they make horrific mistakes.

 

Color me disappointed if we go into Spring Training with the CORPSE of Jason Varitek as our starting catcher...

 

On the bright-side, he handles the staff well and with no Lugo...he will be the only weak spot in the lineup.

 

From my point of view, this is the most important thing this team can get from its catcher next year and the year after, assuming they're not going to get an offensive juggernaught like Mauer or Martin. I think he instills confidence in the staff and his game preparation is great. I also think he can come back offensively and have some semblance of success at the plate. With the diverse staff of young/old, recent acquisition/rookie/veteran Sox members, I think Tek is still a great fit.

[example1]

Why is that more advantageous than trading for a young catcher now?

 

I think the young catchers who seem to have the best shot of being a 'franchise' catcher are going to cost Buchholz. The other guys might not be worth a guy like Bowden. At another time perhaps the Sox will be able to deal a few OF prospects, some relief pitchers, or some young pitchers who weren't BP's #2 overall prospect in 2008. Or, perhaps best of all, the Sox could draft someone.

[Redguitar985]

They'll sign Varitek to a one-year deal, maybe $2 million, with a bunch of incentives if his offense improves.

[TheKilo]

George Kottaras.

[example1]

Do you think Henry attended this meeting to do a face-to-face negotiation or to breakup with Tek?

[Dojji]

They'll sign Varitek to a one-year deal' date=' maybe $2 million, with a bunch of incentives if his offense improves.[/quote']

 

You can't actually make incentives based on statistical performance -- only games played, at bats, etc.

[Dojji]

Do you think Henry attended this meeting to do a face-to-face negotiation or to breakup with Tek?

 

I think Henry legitimately wants to keep Varitek around. IMHO that's a mistake but it's not a very big one.

 

I believe in Varitek's intangibles -- we saw them in full profile after he got hurt in 2006 and we saw the disaster that was Javy Lopez the catcher (while the Sox were ~.500 in Mirabelli-called games during the same stretch!).

 

That said -- I dojn't believe they'll reach a deal because Varitek will want to be a starter and Theo will want to cut down his playing time and treat him like a platoon guy. Also, Varitek isn't the only guy who can call a game -- both Bard and Kottaras have shown signs of decent ability in that regard.

 

My vote is Bard -- he did a great job with the Padres staff in '07 and has a pretty similar profile to 'Tek really and I fail to believe (despite wanting it to happen) that Theo will just promote both halves of the Pawtucket tandem.

 

BTW whoever is the starting catcher, unless there's a trade Kottaras will make the roster. He's shown some lefthanded power and great discipline at the plate -- and each of the othre 3 current catching options either are RHH or hit best from the RH side. He's not the worst candidate in the world to be mentored by Tek and he's shown success as a platoon catcher in AAA so I think Kottaras is the most likely (least unlikely) of our current catching threesome to make it.

[Redguitar985]

You can't actually make incentives based on statistical performance -- only games played' date=' at bats, etc.[/quote']

 

Why not? The FO gave Schilling an incentive after winning the World Series in '04 and put weight clauses into his '08 contract. Is there a rule saying you can't make incentives if a player hits for a certain average or number of home runs?

[italstallianion]

I don't think there is a rule saying such, or at least governing the use of a possible contract clause. Considering Schilling's contract, and the weird extraneous details of many baseball contracts I wouldn't be surprised if something like that crept it's way into Varitek's contract. I'd support it, afterall we're looking for the production from the plate (amongst other things) and that extra bit of motivation would be helpful in bringing the desired results.

 

Maybe we can add something about the cERA into the contract.

[Dojji]

Why not? The FO gave Schilling an incentive after winning the World Series in '04 and put weight clauses into his '08 contract. Is there a rule saying you can't make incentives if a player hits for a certain average or number of home runs?

 

Yes. Yes, there is. Because performance based incentives open a can of worms if a front office finds itself in a position of needing to not hand out the incentive. Rather than having to field a whole lot of borderline cases the union just negotiated the whole concept of production-based incentives right out of the CBA.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

jeoa f***ine maure babaay

[BSN07]

jeoa f***ine maure babaay

 

:lol:

 

 

I know this is one of his "drunk" post, but it made ma laugh.

[riverside sluggers]

This gave me a good laugh this morning

 

http://www/mlbtraderumors.com

 

11:37pm: More on Varitek from NESN's Heidi Watney. She says Varitek's meeting with Henry was to "clear the air" rather than negotiate. The Red Sox had not been returning Scott Boras' phone calls, but now they'll reopen negotiations. Watney notes that Varitek was not aware when he turned down arbitration that any signing team would have to give up a draft pick. Tek does not blame Boras for this.

[BSN07]

This gave me a good laugh this morning

 

http://www/mlbtraderumors.com

 

This is totally Boras's fault. It was a complete misjudgment of the market for Tek's servives. And not knowing about the pick would be insanely ignorant.

 

I truely wonder if his divorce had any bearing on his offseason agenda. I think it's reasonable to think he didn't want any kind of guranteed deal until after it was final. That way half of his new deal wouldn't be going to his ex-wife. And the market just ended up being alot worse then what they originally expected. This is the only was I think Tek can resolve Boras of any kind of fault. Nothing else makes a whole lot of sense. I hate Boras but he usually doesn't botch things this bad.

[italstallianion]

Yeah, usually Boras is screwing over the teams and the owners, not the players and his own clients. Malpractice lawsuit anyone?? j/k

[CrespoBlows]

f*** the 'Telfon' catcher.

 

All his fault.

[jacksonianmarch]

You can't actually make incentives based on statistical performance -- only games played' date=' at bats, etc.[/quote']

 

not true. Guys have clauses based upon CY and MVP voting as well as homerun clauses.

[CrespoBlows]

GP and AB's are statistical categories.