Back in November, we were looking at potential backup catchers to help support the growth and development of the newly-minted Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
In that quest we discussed focusing on a veteran player with a reputation for handling pitching staffs, maintained some juice in his bat, was willing to take a backseat to Saltalamacchia and would not be a distraction for playing time.
I settled on Rod Bajaras.
Of course we know now that Jason Varitek is back and suited even-better for the role needed than Barajas would have been. Sure, Barajas can call a good game and still hits plenty of home runs for a part-time catcher, but Varitek is the eyes and ears of this institution. What better role model can you have than him?
And before we start dumping on Varitek for obvious flaws (throwing out base runners, striking out, not seeming to ever get a hit left-handed) let’s remember the bigger picture of why he is here. I think it’s pretty obvious that this guy is going to someday end up at a minimum as a bench coach for this franchise. My guess is that they will let him play until he is 50 if he wants.
I’m sure a lot of you don’t like that either. Nobody likes watching Varitek strike out with RISP and I’m sure verbal grenades will be hurled at the television screen before we are out of the first series in Texas.
When Boston re-signed Varitek in early December, the phone lines and message boards lit up with unsettled fans lamenting the front office for letting Victor Martinez walk. Why resign a 39-year old catcher when they could have had a younger V-Mart?
I don’t think that question needs to even be addressed but some people still hold on to the idea that slash lines are all that matters. We are a well-advanced community of fans in terms of metrics and data interpretation, but there is still a stranglehold that if it’s not measurable that it almost doesn’t matter.
So what can we expect from ‘Tek in 2011? Obviously the brunt of responsibility is supposed to rest on the shoulders of Saltalamacchia. Provided Salty can hold his own as a catcher (that includes all elements and responsibilities of the position), then I would expect no more than 300 ABs over 90 games for Varitek.
Is that too much for fans to stomach? For some it will be. There will always be the subset of Red Sox Nation who thinks their baseball team is a fantasy sports roster and that compiling the most rotisserie stats is the formula to win. You could say whatever you wanted about Varitek’s presence and impact on the team, but again, if it can’t be measured on a baseball card, no one wants to hear it.
I understand this to a certain extent but the game of baseball is too easily lost in spreadsheets, splits and slash lines. With the advent of sabermetrics into the mainstream, we have become closer to understanding elements of this sport than we ever have. But with that, we have also begun to overemphasize the slices of information we know.
When Varitek steps behind the plate this year, he thankfully will not have to deal with Carl Crawford running all over him. He’s still going to be pretty bad at throwing runners out. The negative values that those scenarios create are no secret to anyone. But there is a reason the team keeps agreeing to contracts and trotting him out there.
Is it sentiment? To a certain extent, sure. But the Red Sox are hardly an organization who does things just from the goodness of their heart. They attempt to assemble a championship-caliber roster year in and out. Sometimes those rosters include guys like ‘Tek.
In the last few seasons, Varitek has shifted his plate approach to a low-contact/high-power technique where his main goal is to hit a flyball and to put some charge into it. He’s gone from a 40% FB rate in 2007 up to a 57% FB rate in the injury-shortened 2010.
Expect more of the same from Varitek. 300 ABs and about 15 HRs while he fills up the stat sheets in categories only the front office measures.
He shouldn’t see more playing time for that or the team is really asking for it. Let’s just hope Saltalamacchia works out as the Red Sox think he will.