Zenny

Look, I'm not going to fight with another Sox fan over this. I fight with enough Yankee fans about other things. I'm just going to add a few more bits of logic, reasoning and statistics to the debate and then I'm done. You can say that Varitek is the best without truly backing it up or refuting anything I say, that is your right. Sox Brass knows what they are doing and Jason Varitek doesn't appear to be high on their list, nor should he be. If Varitek was the number one priority to sign, why hasn't he even been extended a contract offer yet? Hell, even Lowe has gotten contract offers. A .750 road OPS is really fantastic, huh. Yeah, best catcher in the league material. A player's team has nothing to do with how good they are. Ausmus, I-Rod and Matheny are all far and away superior to Varitek defensively. Look into their stats and them compare them to Varitek's. Huge difference. He's not even in the same universe. He's 18th in baseball in caught stealing percent, 10th in range factor, 14th in fielding percentage, 14th in passed balls and his individual catcher's ERA is higher than the team's overall ERA. Pudge Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Victor Martinez and Johnny Estrada are all having clear-cut superior seasons at the plate, while it could be argued that Jason Kendall, Paul Lo Duca and Javy Lopez have been just as good or better. You see, Sox Brass looks at all these things, not just the fact that some people really like him. There is no justifying making him the highest paid catcher in the league when a superior long-term replacement is waiting at AAA for 3% of the money Varitek is requesting. I really don't give a good s*** what the media thinks, because they are all a bunch of blow-hards anyway. If Jason Varitek can be brought back at a reasonable price, fantastic. As it stands right now, he should be loooooooooong gone next season.

noonanberg, I completely agree. This team is too talented not too win. Let's give them a shot and see what they can do. Back to my Varitek ramblings, here are some of this season's splits for "The Golden Boy": Runners in Scoring Position: .254 Bases Loaded: .091 RISP, 2 outs: .235 Close and Late: .216 NOTE: Close and late is defined as, "results in the 7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck." Road: .248/.374/.376/.750; only 8 extra-base hits (5 2B, 3 HR) Let's not forget at how bad he is at throwing runners out. Only 28.3% this season and that is best of his career. Is that worth $10 million dollars a season? He's already making $7 million this season and there's no chance in hell that he takes a pay-cut. A catcher at the age that is typical for the beginning of a catcher's decline who has a .750 OPS outside of Fenway Park and has been questionable in his game-calling. No thank you.

Varitek is not the best at what he does. He has never won a Gold Glove and he's never been worthy of it. He's never lead major league catchers in any major offensive category either. He's a solid major league catcher, but to put him in Ausmus', Matheny's or I-Rod's league defensively is rediculous and to mention him as an offensive player like Piazza, I-Rod, Posada or even Victor Martinez is also way out of line. I just watched that first inning and I seriously question a lot of the calls that he made behind the plate. In that Abreu at bat, all he did was throw outside. Bronson obviously wasn't spotting the outside fastball well, yet Tek made him throw three of them all for balls well off of the plate. Bronson didn't throw one changeup in that at bat, yet that is (or should be if Varitek was competent) his main weapon against left-handed hitters. He didn't throw one and it resulted in a walk. In the Rollins at bat, the Sox are lucky that Rollins isn't a strong guy, because any of the other left-handers in that line-up would've sent that offering into the bullpen. As far as the grand slam comment, that was to emphasize his inability to hit with RISP. He's never done it in the past and he's not going to start doing it this season. If you would take Varitek over Manny, Trot, Ortiz, Pedro, Foulke, Nomar or Schilling, I think I need to question your knowledge of baseball, not you of mine like you did two posts back.

Please, that is the most overrated excuse I have ever heard, not just from you, but from the media as well. All catchers have to prepare with their pitching staff, it's not like Varitek is some ingenious god who is developing this revolutionary method. He doesn't hit with RISP, he doesn't have a career grand-slam (that's a little tid-bit for you), I have been seriously questioning some of the calls he has made behind the plate, he has stupid contract demands and we have a better, cheaper replacement waiting at AAA for next season. The Sox might be in first if they had a better hitter with RISP and game-caller. I am fed up with Varitek. I've never been a fan and I'm glad to see he'll be gone after the season. We should save our money on real priorities.

Ortiz might be the most underrated player on the planet right now. No All-Star Ballot, no MVP consideration, yet he's an absolute beast.

I've heard the Finley rumors as well. I don't understand why the Sox need more offense. Just leave that alone and go after some pitching, we all know that pitching is what it takes to win it all. Nomar and Trot are back and already raking, this offense is fine.

Well, the sticking point is Varitek. He's a Boras client and his contractual demands are rediculous, something like $10 million per season. I guarantee that Sox won't go over $6 million per for a catcher. If Varitek had every intention of returning, he would've re-signed already; he can override his agent. But, you know what? He hasn't done that, which says to me that he has every intention of getting top dollar on the market with no hometown discount for the Red Sox. I think he's as good as gone and you can take that to the bank, just like Varitek will. I wouldn't be so sure about Shoppach being traded. The Sox don't want Garcia and I don't see them making any huge deals that would require a top prospect. Any trade this season is probably going to involve guys in A-ball, AA at the most. Guys like Chris Smith, Jose Vaquedano, Chad Spann; the younger guys.

Bronson always gets destroyed at Fenway. We either have to win big or lose. Wolf was putting together a pretty good season before getting hurt, let's hope he can't keep it up.

Trot Nixon- Trot Nomar Garciaparra- Nomie, Nomah Manny Ramirez- Manny Curt Schilling- Schill Pedro Martinez- Petey David Ortiz- Big Papi Ortiz, Big Ortiz Tim Wakefield- Wake Scott Williamson- Scottay! (you gotta scream it) Ramiro Mendoza- Men-blow-za Jason Varitek- Kelly Shoppach's predecessor, Tek Mark Bellhorn- Boston Bellhorn Pokey Reese- Pokey Gabe Kapler- Super Jew, Crapler Kevin Youkilis- Youk, Youky Dave McCarty- DMC (don't ask) Doug Mirabelli- Dougie! (you gotta scream here too) Bill Mueller- Billy Milly Derek Lowe- D-Lowe, D-Blow, D-notgonnabeherenextseasonbecausehesucks

Yep, Abe was very good tonight (well, it's now Saturday, so I guess it's yesterday). He has given up a lot of homeruns, but his 1.23 WHIP and 3.10 K/BB ratio only suggest that his ERA is going to continue to decline. Don't forget, he's still about two years younger than the rest of the league.

Shopp got a well-deserved day of rest today. Jamie Brown responded by pitching an awful game with Andy Dominique doing the receiving. Brown had a sub-3.00 ERA prior to tonight's outing, with much of that due to Shoppach's ability to call games. Tonight, he gave up 7 runs in only 3 or 4 innings. This kid calls a good game, believe me. Shopp needed the day off. He always seems to respond very well after getting a break or when given the opportunity to DH.

I'm just jaded by the Celtics I guess... Hah, a play on words.

Buck is a good offensive catcher, think Ramon Hernandez, but he needs to improve his defense. KC is going to call him up to start behind the plate now. He'll be the best catcher in KC history, but that really isn't saying much. Mike Wood and Mark Teahan, from Oakland, is a sinker-balling #4 starter and a lefty-hitting 3B with some pop. Both of which were very expendable for Oakland with their current situations.

Lester's ERA as a starter is actually 2.17. He pitched in relief in one of BK Kim's rehab outings and gave up 10 runs without getting an out, so he's really only given up 11 earned runs in 45.2 innings. Since he's not a reliever, that can basically be thrown out. Glad to see he's healthy again as he was just activated off the DL two days ago.

Didn't we already pick Kendrick Perkins last season to be the designated "waste of space" on the team? Now this Jefferson kid might actually force Perkins to play, oh no!

The A's were always the best team in the West. The Angels had the most overrated team in history going into this season. Their entire rotation has an ERA above 5, they have a fantastic bullpen but it's never completely healthy and Vlad, Anderson and Guillen are the only guys in that lineup who can really hit. Overrated.

That's not beneficial to a young player's development. They need to be in the line-up everyday so they can adjust. It is more of a question of having the young hitter adjust to the pitching than vice-versa. The worst thing you could do in this scenario is bench him so he gets rusty.

The OBP 100 points higher than the BA and the SLG% 200 points higher than the BA are very encouraging. That is usually a sign of a good all-around hitter, even when the average is struggling. He needs to get a little work in to cut down the K's and get that average up and things should be good for Shopp. That should come before the AAA All-Star Game in July. He's going to have a monster second-half, hopefully all of it with the Sox. I hate to say it to all the 'Tek fans out there, but the more Shopp walks and the better defense he plays, the less and less likely that Varitek returns, especially given his contractual demands and how he hasn't backed it up with performance.

Similar box score to last night: 0-2, 2 BB, K. He's getting on base a lot, but he's hitless in his last three games. Season Line: .237/.340/.435/.775; .41 (30/74) BB/K ratio; 11 2B, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 35 R

Well, Beltran is an Astro and Youkilis and Shoppach will remain in Sox uniforms for now.

True, I was just nit-picking. It might not have been his fault this time, but why not take advantage of Williamson after only throwing 4 pitches?

Also, something to realize that I forgot to put in my last post: We are going to get some fantastic draft picks next season as compensation for Lowe and whoever else leaves. Lowe looks headed to either Detroit (where he's from) or Colorado (where he'd get the most money) and we know that those teams are going to be among the worst five in the league, so we're probably going to get a top five draft pick, not to mention the supplemental round pick, picks from other lost free-agents and our own picks! I've got a great feeling about next year's draft. So if this team tanks, there's no need to fret!

Tito should've left Williamson in for the ninth today. He only threw four pitches to Hunter and he has been fantastic this season.

I have never been a Varitek fan (that should be pretty evident), but he has really been frustrating at the plate. I also find myself questioning some of his pitch selections as well. Meanwhile, I went to Monday's PawSox game and Shoppach called a fantastic game for John Stephens, no joke. I've got a couple problems with trading 'Tek. First, Shoppach has the defense, throwing, game-calling, walking and hitting homeruns down. All he needs to do is improve his contact over the rest of the season and he should be ready. He is hitting over .300 since mid-May, so it is coming. Second, having him ride the pine would not be beneficial to his development and thrusting him into the big league role right now may be too much. Third, Mirabelli has more problems making contact than Russell Branyan. You have no idea how frustrating it would be to watch Mirabelli hit everyday. I know you are frustrated, but blowing this team up because they have gone 1-2 in their last three series is rediculous. This team can hit and pitch with the best of them. This team is making the playoffs and it is anyone's game from there. We don't need a Carlos Beltran type. What we need is someone who can stabilize that rotation. Man, I wish we could get Oliver Perez, but we have no shot in hell at that.