Varitek's future beyond this year.

[Dojji]

The old bird has cheated the reaper again this year and seems to have adjusted to playing part time. He's putting up respectable numbers both offensively and defensively, especially for a 39 year old catcher.

 

My question is, after this year if he keeps his numbers somwhere in the .750 range, do you move on or see what he can do at 40?

 

Personally I kinda think the guy needs to be a Red Sox for as long as he can play, as I think it would be very hard to do better than him for a backup catcher just in terms of experience and preparation

 

But on the other hand we do have some young catchers whose upside intrigues me, especially Federowicz and Lavarnway, both of whom need to start cracking the roster in the very near future, and Salty's probably ready to be a fulltime starter by the end of this year.

 

But on the other, other hand, Varitek is the ultimate veteran catcher, he's been everywhere, and seen everything, and Salty could possibly use his presence for another year. So I'm torn.

 

I certainly do hope that Varitek stays with the organization when he retires, whether that be the end of this year on in years to come. He's the most iconic Red Sox catcher since Fisk, and he might have Fisk beat on longevity with the organization. And I think that if he stays in baseball Jason Varitek is going to be a brilliant coach and manager. I hope he's Tito's successor when his health forces him out of the league. Goodness knows he knows the sport better than probably any other current active player, so I hope the Sox get this right and keep him here in some role indefinitely.

[Palodios]

I think this is going to be a very difficult question moving forward. If Lavarnway keeps playing like the Victor Martinez of AAA, which of the 3 players do you keep on your roster?

 

The team captain, veteran, and Beckett's binky behind the plate. The two rookies, one with a hammer, and the other with a rocket. Or, Saltalamacchia who is proving himself to be a major league quality catcher, and has three years of club-controlled years left. Or, do you let Ortiz go for draft picks and carry a third catcher instead of a DH?

 

Honestly, I think the best plan is to trade Salty for value, and see what Varitek can do with Federowicz/Lavarnway. But I see this as one of the intriguing questions that come up next offseason.

[Dojji]

I think that Salty is a Theo's Lust List guy, and he won't be moved as long as he proves himself adequate. That tightens the noose around Fed-Ex, Lavs and Tek.

[SoxSport]

Why would they trade Salty? they gambled on him, and it looks like they might have succeeded.

Good catchers are hard to find--for nothing.

 

What they need to do is learn how to cut the umbilical cord of the age on this team. Tek is a great guy to keep as a bullpen coach. Ortiz is making the decision on him tough, though he will get paid much less if they keep him. Wake and Drew are gone.

 

Tek needs to move out to make room for the farm system. But I want him around as a coach. He's manager material--like a lot of catchers.

[jacksonianmarch]

Salty is a guy you might sell high on. He's not a very good catcher and he's started to hit in a lineup where he's going to see a ton of fastballs in. Put him in the Pirates lineup and I guarantee he gets pitched differently. If Lavarnway shows he can hit AAA pitching and if you think he presents higher upside on the offensive end, then dealing Salty at yrs end would be a good approach. The dearth of catchers in the bigs would make Salty a pretty highly sought after commodity

[Thunder]

I think Tek will still be a back up. He loves playing the game so much, he won't quit until he can't play anymore.

[BornToRun]

Salty is a guy you might sell high on. He's not a very good catcher and he's started to hit in a lineup where he's going to see a ton of fastballs in. Put him in the Pirates lineup and I guarantee he gets pitched differently. If Lavarnway shows he can hit AAA pitching and if you think he presents higher upside on the offensive end' date=' then dealing Salty at yrs end would be a good approach. The dearth of catchers in the bigs would make Salty a pretty highly sought after commodity[/quote']

 

Why would we trade a guy like Salty who we put so much time into on his development and are finally seeing the returns? We've found a catcher and I don't think we're gonna f*** with what's been working. He's come a long way since his early struggles and it seems that Lavarnway projects to be nothing more than a DH down the road.

[Dojji]

Nevermind Jacko. He's a Yankee fan, and it's past obvious by now that what he's doing here is putting out the kind of sabotage he wants us to do to ourselves and wishing reeaaallly hard that it made sense.

[Dojji]

Hmm...

 

Varitek or Lavarnway, Lavarnway or Varitek...

 

I'm guessing that if Ortiz walks we may wind up carrying three catchers. We need to get a bit more righthanded anyway, and Lavarnway, if he can hit anywhere near this well at the big league level, can carry DH offensively, and if he can feature occasionally as an adequate catcher (not expecting miracles there) he's actually pretty valuable and might mean that Tito would actually occasionally pinch hit for a catcher. Sometimes. Although that might cost us the DH spot so mayve not lol.

[Steagles]

I think he'll try to find the fountain of youth, but as a backup around the all star break, he's going to get hurt and he'll retire. He becomes a coach next year I believe.