VARITEK WILL RETURN

Super agent Scott Boras has his work cut out for him this off-season. And it doesn't involve Mark Teixiera, Manny Ramirez, A. J. Burnett or any of his other high priced free agent stars. No, those players will be easy sells on the free agent and make Boras very happy as he calculates his cut from their new contracts. But when it comes to Jason Varitek, Boras will suffer his only off-season loss as the captain returns to Boston to play out his last two years as a major league catcher.

Now we all know Boras has already started to claim there is a market for Varitek. He is looking for a Jorge Posada contract in the range of four years, $52.4 million. And Boras is certainly behind the rumors that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers are very interested in Varitek's leadership and his ability to handle a pitching staff. And before it's all said and done I'm sure a few additional teams will pop up in the discussion. Expect Boras to claim the Mets and Washington are expressing interest in Varitek.

Look, let's be real here for a moment. Is anyone really taking any of this seriously? Boras is about to crash and burn with Varitek. That's if you want to claim landing a new two-year deal at $10 million a season is a failure on Boras' part. And I'm willing to make such a statement.

Unfortunately for Boras, Varitek has done nothing the past two season's to generate much interest for any organization. While he still plays a good defensive game and handles a pitching staff as well as anyone in the league his offensive woes the past two seasons are far too alarming for anyone to invest big dollars past two season's at the most. Varitek hit a mere .225 in the second half of the 2007 season and finished this past season with a terrible .220 BA and a .672 OPS. And he'll be 37 years old before the 2009 regular season is a month old. Does that sound like a free agent anyone will fall all over themselves to lock up with a three or four year deal?

Despite his defensive problems Russell Martin is a perfect fit for the Dodgers. The rumors of turning him into a third baseman are ridiculous as his offensive production falls well short of what teams want coming from the hot corner if you can't pick it cleanly in the field. Detroit has a need for a catcher after trading away Ivan Rodriguez last season, but the Tigers are looking to dump salary and get younger. Besides, Dusty Ryan looks to be the real deal and almost ready for everyday catching responsibilites with the Tigers. Detroit will be looking for a vet to tutor the kid for a couple of seasons and not tie up money for three or more years.

Varitek is a player who needs to be on a team with an up and coming young catcher, who can spell him to give those old bones and reflexes the rest necessary to get through the next two seasons effectively. And that team will undoubtedly be the Boston Red Sox. Furthermore Varitek has no reason to change his identity and go to a team where he'll need to increase his workload by learning a whole new pitching staff.

Yes, the Red Sox captain will return to the fold before long. And the Red Sox will grab either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden from the Texas Rangers to spell the Red Sox captain and learn the ropes from him for the next two seasons. It will be a fitting end to a solid and enjoyable career for Varitek. In two years he will hang up his Red Sox jersey for the last time and know that he had a long and successful career for one of the premire teams in the land.
Best of all he will be able to listen to the Red Sox faithful roundly thank him for his efforts.

Put your fears to rest people. Jason Varitek will be behind the plate for the Red Sox in 2009.