Yesterday, Pat discussed what the Jason Varitek signing means for the backup catcher position. Today, I look at the man himself, Jason Varitek.
What does the return of Varitek mean for the club? Does it mean “more of the same?” No, I don’t think it does. The actions of management over the last year have shown that the club is intent on shaking the psychological hold that Varitek holds over the team.
Now, I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way at all. Varitek is a great leader, The Captain, renowned for his hard work. But no one can defeat time, and if the Sox are to weather the transition from Varitek into another catcher, the team has to be weaned off ‘Tek and how much he means to the club.
This started last year, but had nothing to do with Varitek.
STEP ONE – NO MORE ‘DOUGIE GOES DEEP’
Step one occured in spring training of last year when the team sought to break the iron grip that Doug Mirabelli had on the backup catcher’s position as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher. There’s no question that Mirabelli could have easily served another year as the backup catcher and approximated Cash’s production. So why the move?
The move was to show that the club doesn’t need Mirabelli. It was a move that had failed earlier when Josh Bard was brought in to be Wakefield’s caddy. The team tried again with Cash, who is an excellent receiver. As we all know, the transition went smoothly and now everyone knows that Mirabelli isn’t the only person capable of catching Wakefield.
It’s dangerous to rely on that one person and be helpless to do anything else. The club gave up Bard and Cla Meredith to get Mirabelli back, and had to fight the Yankees off to get Mirabelli, which actually made the psychological hold ‘Belli had on the team that much worse. (The Yankees were trying to trade for Mirabelli at the same time the Sox re-obtained him; this was to prevent the Sox from getting him and put them in a tough position.)
Theo and Co. let Kevin Cash walk as a free agent, and he signed a minor league deal with (surprise) the Yankees. If Theo really wanted Cash back, he could have easily handed him a similar, perhaps even more lucrative, deal and Cash would have taken it, being guaranteed a full year of starting one out of five games. On the Yankees, he’ll be in the minors unless Jorge Posada gets injured again or proves he can no longer catch.
Theo has essentially stated this offseason that the club is done with personal catchers for Wakefield — they’re not trying to force Wakefield out of a job, they’re trying to position themselves to not be married to a particular player at a particular position. It’s even been bandied about that Varitek could start catching Wakefield this year. Or Bard. Or Dusty Brown. Or George Kottaras. Who knows? But the days of a true knuckleball-receiving catcher is over.
The
club signed Josh Bard to return to Boston after he showed enough
offensive potential and the reputation of a “pitcher’s catcher” in San
Diego. He has a non-guaranteed contract, but I would be surprised if
Brown or Kottaras beat him out for the position. This is as much a
psychological move as it is a production move.
Everyone knows how badly Bard failed as Wake’s catcher a few years ago.
To field two catchers, one of who has barely caught Wakefield in ages
and one who flamed out doing so, is a clear indication that the team is
breaking the psychological hold Mirabelli and to some degree, Cash, had
on the team.
STEP TWO – PHASING VARITEK OUT
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| This says it all – Samara Pearlstein |
Now that the psychological hold of the backup catcher has been broken, it’s time to transition Varitek out. There’s no getting around how brutal of a hitter Varitek was last year. He was an offensive sinkhole and really depressed the offense.
And yet. And yet, he was still considered a valuable part of the team. And for good reason. Varitek’s ability to communicate with the pitcher, his work ethic in attending pitcher’s meetings (something other catchers rarely do) and his overall involvement with the catching aspect of the game has meant a lot to the team.
Again, however, everyone knows his time is drawing to a close… but the team can’t just make a clean break with a player this influential on the pitching staff and team.
That’s where we are right now. And that’s why I believe that Varitek will find himself on the bench a lot more often as the season progresses, especially if Bard produces as expected.
In April, I see Varitek getting most of the playing time, with Bard catching Wakefield, which has been status quo for a while now, so nothing new there. Ah, but as the season wears on, you’ll start seeing Varitek get more frequent days off here and there… and as the summer approaches, we’ll be hearing how the club wants to keep ‘Tek’s legs and bat “fresh” for the “postseason run”.
Suddenly, Bard will be catching two out of five starts, with no discernible pitcher-bias — meaning that he won’t be catching only Pitcher A and B, they’ll be random, as so not to create a psychological effect on having a personal catcher.
That’s what I expect to happen. Of course, things are always subject to change. If Varitek has a ‘07 Posada-like renaissance, this all goes out the window and he catches four out of five starts, if not more. If he hits .100/.200/.150, Bard will obviously become the new starting catcher. But assuming things proceed as they have (with a slight improvement in average, as ‘Tek’s xBABIP is higher than his actual), this season will mark a subtle shift towards not relying on Varitek to save the day.
As a former baseball player myself, I understand the power of psychology on a team. So do the Sox; they have a position dealing with baseball psychology and their actions with the catcher situation the last few years bear this out.
If the Sox are to transition to a “catcher of the future,” they need to do so slowly. The catcher of the future needs to be integrated into the team, not suddenly thrown into the fire. If he is, you’ll see pitchers openly pining for Varitek any time a start goes wrong, and the confidence level pitchers have of throwing to the new catcher will be lower than if they were throwing to ‘Tek. Phase ‘Tek out, and you’ll hardly notice the transition to a new starting catcher.
I know a lot of fans were hoping Varitek would move on, but not I. I understand both the value Varitek brings to the team as a catcher and the psychological hold he has on the team. If we want to survive the immediate post-Varitek years intact as a playoff team, the solution is to slowly phase Varitek out. And that’s what they’re doing.
(NOTE: I’m not a psychologist. I’m just some Red Sox-obsessed fan who has way too much time on his hands and thinks about stuff like this.)
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Well put, and the correct strategy moving forward. Whether it’s Bard, Kottaras, Brown or Salty, the pitchers, the team, John Farrell & Tito, and most of the fans are more likely to happily respond to a gradual transition. This also allows Jason to get the props he deserves which, in baseball, is considered good form.
Re: baseball as a business. Everything that produces and expends revenue is a business, but some businesses, including basball, are about much more than the bottom line.
A university, hospital, your favorite Pub, a good restaurant, The Symphony, Tanglewood, Art Museum, Library . . . all businesses. But to run them like a toll-road, a discount clothing store, or used car lot is the quickest way to go out of business. Baseball deals with emotions, psyche, heart, ego, aesthetics, childhood dreams, honor, role models, even spirituality, and is deeply tied to the American soul and local pride. It is far more than a business. For example, fans are aghast that obscene salaries and Scott Boras greed are becoming comparable to the sleazy robber baron bonuses of Wall St. and banking; and why fans take it personally when someone insults their team. When MLB becomes the business equivalent of a laundromat it will be timem to shutter the parks.
Pretty sure that Wall Street sleaze is approaching MLB levels, not the other way around.
I (vaguely) understand the intangibles argument, but there comes a time when a .220/.313/.320 line from any position is unacceptable. If he’s such a magic totem of good will, give him a coaching job.
Leaders are hard to find. Teams do not know what they had until the player is gone. Leadership is needed and Ver is a class act. GO SOX
So Evan,
You must be claiming that even if the Sox had landed (Salty, Teagarden, Montero, Russell Martin, Shoppach) after signing Bard, that they still would have needed to bring Varitek back for this weaning process. You make it sound like the the fans, the organization, and the pitching staff are helpless babes at his breast. Boras could have used some of this hype over the last few months. And Gerry, who’s been lauding Bard as an adequate replacement, who could himself mentor one of those young catchers, just falls right in line.
Bottom line:
If Theo found a fit and pulled the trigger on a trade for one of those young guys, Tek would be waiting till June to land a contract. Not a lot of fans would much care. And the pitching staff would get used to whoever took over the starting job.
MUCH more specifically:
Beckett and Dice-K have had experience and success throwing to other backstops. Lester has had basically a 1 1/2 years time with him, and looks as if he has his own game pretty much figured out. Tek only caught Wakefield on rare occasions. Rookies and recent signees have had slim to no experience with him. What would they miss? And the bullpen logs more time with the bullpen catcher. Not one guy on the pitching staff would EVER blame a poor outing on not having Tek behind the plate. It would demean a teammate who WAS catching, and sound like whining. There isn’t a single pitcher in MLB who would indicate a lack of self-confidence by claiming they failed because Tek wasn’t there to guide them.
Around the periphery of Sean’s post there’s coaching to consider. Why does Varitek need to be the mentor/spiritual guide for a new catcher? The organization has the same information on hitters’ tendencies Tek does. They have books on everyone. The Sox could bring in a coach who’s had MLB catching experience to work on “intangibles” training. Tek might be good defensively, but he’s not the best ever. He’s not the only guy with knowledge of how to set up a hitter. All these kids already know how to set a target and block a ball in the dirt. But working a hitter to increase the chances of him hitting into your defensive set requires both knowledge of hitters abilities, and a feel for what your pitcher has working on a given day. The most difficult part of being a catcher is the mental aspect. You’re involved in every nuance of what happens on the field, every pitch you call. Where you set the target and the pitch you call has a great deal to do with percentages of where a ball ends up if contact is made. Being aware of all these factors for 27 outs is a mental challenge as well as a physical grind. The ability to stay mentally focused isn’t something that can really be taught. A guy either has it, or he doesn’t. Even if Tek was on the team, he can’t be Cirano DeBergerac in the kids ear from behind the ump. He could only trade ideas before games and in between innings. So could a veteran coach.
The two favorable things resigning him does; is one, allow the Sox to hold on to the prospects that much longer, to see who’ll be what that much clearer. And two, put the Sox in a stronger bargaining position in trade talks, because they won’t be trading out of desparation.
And as far as MLB as a business, from my perspective: The Sox have made choices to cut popular and useful players in the past. Some say they’re a tad cold about. But there comes a time in everybody’s lives when we part ways, for countless different reasons, with people we’ve known, respected, loved, admired, etc… Not always fun, fair, or easy. But necessary.
P.S. Got a laugh out of claiming Varitek would sit to “keep his bat fresh.” That lumber caught more fresh air than some birds last year. I don’t think it could be any fresher.
Does anybody really think that the Red Sox resigned Tek because he is a “great leader”? This is an organization that has let Pedro, Lowe, Millar, Mueller, Nixon, Nomar, and Manny go. This is one of the most cut-throat front office in baseball. To bring Tek back, they must have had some empirical evidence that he was the best option they had. While i do not have their information, I can formulate where their thinking comes from.
Everyone keeps speaking about these players (Salty, Teagarden, Montero, Martin, Shoppach, ect) like teams were giving them away. We would have had to pay a premium for all those players. The only player on that list worth Buchholz (presumably the asking price) is Martin and the Dodgers weren’t trading him.
I don’t see the rush for the “future.” We don’t know what the market for catchers will be like come July or next winter. The asking price could easily go down and the Sox will act. For the time being, the players listed above would have only been a marginal upgrade over Tek so the Red Sox have decide to wait the market out.
Personally, I love what the Sox are doing. If Tek can post just a .315 wOBA he will be easily worth the money and the Sox will not be greatly effected.
I think some people are missing the point…
no one is suggesting Tek has magic healing powers, or is a good-will savant or lucky charm that the Red Sox cant possibly do without…its not that people who support Tek are in any sort of denial…we just see that a catcher can contribute to a team’s success at places other than the batter’s box…can a LF have as much of an impact in the field? no, thats why LF’s better rake every year
the point is, hes a good defensive catcher and the pitching staff REALLY likes throwing to him…it is what it is, say what you want about other people being able to call games, Tek is the best receiver there is in baseball…hes caught 4 no-hitters, and could easily have 6 if pedro and schilling finished theirs…hes won 2 world championships in boston, hes a 3 time all star
yes, he was terrible at the plate last year…but his knees are in good shape, hes a very hard worker, has good plate discipline, and he will be highly motivated to bounce back at the plate…does that mean he’ll go back to 03-04 numbers? of course not, but i can see him approaching 2007 numbers
and again, we didnt sign tek to an albatross Posada contract…its short years and short cash…the players REALLY wanted him back, the manager REALLY wanted him back, the front office wanted him back, the owner wanted him back, and most of the fans wanted him back…
the sox will get their catcher of the future in time, i just dont understand the negativity toward this signing
Whoah! Slow down!
I’m not being negative about the signing. But get real. Tek crawled back to the Sox. Not the other way around. And I agree that the team rightly deemed the the asking price for the group of catchers mentioned, too high. But let’s face it, they offered him a take-it-or-leave-it deal that was in their favor. And I’m well aware that many in baseball questioned whether Kottaras and/or Brown might do just as well as any of the group of catchers who’ve been repeatedly named. Personally, I think the team was dead serious about going to ST with Bard, Kottaras and Brown, until Varitek asked to meet with Henry.
My whole point was that this is more a “marriage of convienience”, and not some preconceived and necessary “psychological weaning.” It’s not even really a “marriage of convienience” as much as banging your ex a couple more times because you haven’t found anyone better yet.
Realizing $8M over 2yrs is better than losing a Bucholtz or Bowden for any of those guys is common sense. And good business sense on the part of the Sox. Not some kissing and making up.
But please, let’s not talk about non-existent things like Varitek’s “plate patience.” He can’t recognize pitches anymore. He spent 3/4 of last year guessing and check-swinging. Even if knew a fastball was coming he couldn’t touch mid-90’s heat. His bat speed is gone. That’s not bashing the guy, that’s fact. That being said try to remember I ACTUALLY LIKE TEK. I hope he has a great season. I’m not betting on it though.
Somebody is absolutely suggesting the Sox can’t do without him. Suggesting that the team needs to be “psychologically weaned off Varitek” implicitly suggests the Sox can’t do without him.
my bad B, i know i replied to your post, but i was referring to other, much more negative posts about Tek’s signing
I agree with pretty much everthing you said…
although im not completely convinced that he cant bounce back a bit offensively…i think he was in a really bad slump and got caught ‘in between’ fastballs and offspeed pitches a lot last year…when Mike Lowell was in a similar slump a few years ago everyone talked about how his bat speed was completely gone, same thing with Carlos Delgado…and both those guys bounced back…
now, obviously there have been plenty of players whove never bounced back off terrible seasons…im just not ready to completely write Tek off offensively…especially considering he’s bounced back before (07 after a bad 06)
i think he can be league average this year with the bat
With the medical staff the Red Sox have, it would seem odd if they missed something as simple as needing glasses or contacts. But I noticed he squinted, and/or seemed to open his eyes to a rediculous degree while in the batter’s box. Maybe he seriously needs corrective lenses. He just never seemed pick up the ball well at all.
Also, his stance was inconsistent and he rarely got set before a pitch was delivered. He was a flat-out mess.
I’ve heard he’s working on a more repeatable swing, and quieting his stance from both sides of the plate. I wish he’d try hitting right-handed only but I don’t think that will happen. The good news is he can’t get much worse. And the team went a long way last year with him being abysmal. Any improvement will help fans forget how bad he was last year. I know he’s going to do his damndest to redeem himself but he has a lot to work on.
Everyone:
No, the Sox didn’t *have* to bring Varitek back, but I think that you’re all underestimating the impact Varitek has had on this team. Everyone keeps crowing about how good he is and multiple pitchers, past and former, have said he is the best catcher they have ever thrown to.
Theo Epstein said that the one person whose opinion has changed the most about since taking over GM duties is Varitek. One of Beane’s first jobs if he was to become the Sox GM was to get rid of Varitek; Epstein was of a similar mind until he saw Tek in action.
I really do think that the club has factored in his “intangibles” — no player has had as much an influence on this team than Tek had. Not Pedro. Damon. Etc.
I have to disagree. The Red Sox just signed the guy for $5M. That is the same that they just gave to Brad Penny to be our 4th/5th starter. How in love can they be with the guy if they were ready to let him walk?
For me to believe that Theo and Co. brought him back because of his “intangibles” I would need to believe that the Red Sox do not believe that his pure production will not be worth $5M. His WAR last season had him worth $5.6M. Is he going to continue to regress? How much? Unless someone can show that the Red Sox see him having a RAA of -20 or more, I don’t see anything.
I just have never seen any evidence that the FO loves Tek. They signed him to a cheaper deal than Casey Blake, Kyle Farnsworth, Jon Garland, Trevor Hoffman, Kenshin Kawakami, Jamie Moyer, and Koji Uehara. Not exactly an impressive list of players. SO if the Red Sox signed him because of his “intangibles” you would have to believe that they think is production is significantly worse than those player?
I would completely agree with the idea that they are obsessed with this guy if they had gone 2/20 or something like that. We signed him to a 1/$5 with an option. We did the same thing for Smoltz who isn’t even going to be on the team for 1/2 the season.
I think the fact that they brought him back at all speaks to how much they think of him…
but just because they value him doesnt mean they were going to be dumb and give him a big contract…they had ALL the leverage, and they made a deal they were comfortable with
the Sox probably overpaid slightly for a 37 yr old coming off the year he did
the fact that they gave him $5 million just shows that they still really value him and wanted him to catch their staff
the sox value his intangibles, but thats not the only reason they brought him back…they think he still has value to them as a good defensive catcher and someone their pitchers trust…
intangibles are great, but you still have to be able to help the team on the field, or else the sox will move on…see Kevin Millar for example
Consider the chronology of events with Tek. There is no doubt the Sox were ready to offer Tek a contract for 2009+, which would have been generous. Boras demanded 4/$52M. Their response was to offer Arbitration, which would still have cost the Sox between $8-12M depending on the findings. As the Red Sox avoid arbitration at all cost, there was time to work a deal to make everyone happy. Until this point it appears the Sox were trying to show the love you mentioned, and bring Tek back on generous terms, though not at the demanded raise.
Boras wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t even inform Tek re: Type A FA’s and forfeiting draft picks? What a sleazeball.
While the Tek negotiations dragged on, Boras absolutely screwed the Sox with Teixeira. Boras can SAY the Teixeiras were still making up their mind, but he already knew, and so did an angry J. Henry, that they were not coming to Boston. Also during this process Theo and D.Lowe talked about a home town discount from the 5/$90 that Boras was demanding. Look where he wound up. All this was salt in the wound created by Boras when he got Manny to go walkabout just 7 months ago . . . which likely cost a WS. Discussions with Bloomquist, Cora and other Boras clients doubtless added even more salt. Did you notice we did not sign a single Boras client other than Tek, but lost several?
While all this is going on, as the market quickly tanked, Boras blithely, stupidly, held the Sox feet to the fire about Tek . . . . while Zaun, Ausmus others signed elsewhwere and the price of Texas catchers went up. Theo held his ground, and simply could not cave at this point.
Tek never intended to leave. He initiated the meeting with J.Henry on his own, and got himself a still-generous two year deal worth about $10M in a lousy market. As a FA, he signed above the Red Sox 2009 going rate, about the same base price or more than the highest FA signings of All-Stars Smoltz ($5M) & Penny ($3M); Saito, and much more than Bard, Rocco, Kotsay, Tazawa and more even than MVP D. Pedroia will make this year; and far more than what Zaun, Ausmus, I-Rod and other vets will make in 2009. IMO, the Sox wouldn’t sign Garland, Hoffman, Kawakami, Moyer because they cost too much. There are still nearly 100 FA’s out there looking for jobs.
It doesn’t seem the Sox are obsessed with Tek, but they know he will be good for the team and the transition in 2009, so they gave him one of 2009’s highest FA contracts, despite Boras.
We don’t need Varitek’s bat, we don’t need Varitek’s limp-armed defense, and I think now I’ve said on several occasions that we don’t need his game-calling as long as we have advance scouts and a coaching staff.
Why did we sign him them?
I’m hard-pressed to find reasons on the field. If Varitek is so good in the clubhouse that we HAD to sign him for the sake of the team’s morale or psychological well-being, then we should have given Varitek Tito’s job.
I think we did it for the fans, plain and simple. And in that sense, Evan is right to say that this is a purely psychological move. It’s about peace of mind — not Theo’s peace of mind, not Varitek’s, not John Henry’s, not Scott Boras’s, but the peace of mind of the average Red Sox fan. It’s familiarity. It’s the face of the franchise. In a year or two maybe Pedroia or Papelbon or Lester will be qualified to carry that torch, but for now I think the Sox would prefer to keep Tek as a symbol of continuity. After all, until Boras played hardball, the Sox were prepared to offer Varitek about twice as much money as he eventually signed for. We certainly wanted Tek back, all along. Just not on Scott Boras’s terms.