Soy Capitán, Soy Capitán
Jason Varitek had a key hit in last night’s come-from-behind victory against the Diamondbacks, and quite honestly, it was about freaking time.
Including last night, Varitek is hitting a microscopic .133/.200/.193 in his last 90 plate appearances, a span of 24 games. Meanwhile, a contract decision must be made at the end of the season, as ‘Tek will be a free agent for 2009.
While there aren’t a ton of feasible catching options around the major leagues (unless the team wishes to part with some of their top young players), here’s some food for thought:
Dusty Brown, who has been splitting the catching duties with George Kottaras in Pawtucket, is hitting .282/.390/.474 with excellent defense, albeit in limited playing time. He also hit for a respectable .797 OPS in Portland in 2007.
Could we be looking at an inexpensive 1-year stop gap?