On the heels of Tim Wakefield's retirement, another key member of the Red Sox organization might be close to calling it a career. At Wakefield's press conference earlier today, a friend of Jason Varitek said that the catcher is leaning towards retirement, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
This morning, Varitek's agent Scott Boras maintained that his client hasn't made any decisions yet about playing in 2012. The veteran has received interest from other clubs, but like Wakefield, it is believed that Varitek will decide between the Red Sox and retirement.
BoSox GM Ben Cherington said that he is leaving the ball in Varitek's court and the catcher is welcome to come to camp without a guaranteed roster spot, tweets Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.
This is the one who should have retired from Boston at least.
While IMO he is the best C Boston has ever had.. Even over Fisk who was hurt for many of his seasons with the Sox, Wake had at least an outside shot at being of use and Tek would have been behind Salty, Shoppach and Lavarnway. If he wanted to play at Pawtucket as a retread? Sure thing, he would have been no worse than that gang of 15-17 they had already signed, but he is no longer a MLB player and hasn’t been for 2-3 seasons.
Thanks for the time and for standing up to ARod, leadership etc.. But please just retire…
I think Fisk was better- Offensively for sure. Varitek can call a game but he couldn’t hit like Fisk
No doubt Fisk was better.. But only when he played… Fisk was injury prone when he was with the Sox was the issue.. it seemed as if Monty (Bob Montgomery) was ALWAYS in the lineup throughout the 70’s for one of Fisk’s prolonged DL stints and they were not short ones either.. half a season here, 2-3 months there.. He suffered some freak accidents.. broken bones, getting hit in private places, just weird things seemed to happen to him and he would wind up on the DL.
But WHEN he was on the field? Fisk was the best catcher in the AL and Bench the NL during the 70’s.
When you consider his defense and leadership skills he was easily the best catcher the Sox have ever had and I’d love to see him stick around the team as some kind of coach. I’d love to see him in Pawtucket or Portland teaching the kids.
I think Varitek would make a great coach.
Is he going to embroider a “C” on his golf shirt?
Nice use of the word embroider.
This is getting a little sad.
Varitek and Wakefield are starting to remind me of the aged groupies you see hanging out after concerts. They know they can no longer compete with the hot young tramps, but they are hoping that maybe the roadies will notice them, and gives them one more run for old time’s sake.
The band, predictably, has a short memory, as they should.
Except for Papi, that guy just sticks around like a bad case of VD.
“Varitek and Wakefield are starting to remind me of the aged groupies you see hanging out after concerts”
Hmmmm… You must have never been to a Grateful Dead concert before Jerry Garcia passed away.. Grey beards were the norm.. Wake, Tek would have been young puppies there…
Holds the record for No-hitters by a Catcher. Not a bad record to have.
All good things must end….
I really wish players would decide whether they will retire or not during the off-season and not after pitchers and catchers meet. It would really help out the pitching staff knowing who they will be throwing to.
Even if Varitek comes back, he’l be what, the 3rd string catcher?
Good for him
In my opinion, both would still be of use on this team. As a knuckleballer, Wake could play for another 10 years if he wanted to and still be just as effective as a long/middle reliever. You know you’re going to get a high 3 to mid 4 ERA from him and he eats up innings. Tek would probably be more useful as a bullpen catcher, there for his knowledge and leadership only. Would Tek accept that kind of role though? I think Wake hung ’em up a bit early but at least he’ll be able to watch his kids grow up which is somewhat rare among MLBers.