GOTV! (Get Out The Varitek)
As our nation approaches an Election Day which will be remembered throughout history, there are two choices in front of us. One is old, unreliable, and is essentially a giant heaping of “more of the same”. He’s done courageous things in the past, but we cannot use his past heroics to predict his future performance. The other candidate is a young, fresh faced newcomer who will bring hope and change to the most important position. He’s drawn rave reviews from everyone who has worked with him, and although we’re not sure how well he’ll perform at the highest level, we can be reasonably certain he will be an improvement over what we’ve seen.
I’m speaking, of course, of the Red Sox catching situation.
Look, I’m not one of those people who will completely discount Jason Varitek’s pitch calling abilities, especially in the face of overwhelming anecdotal evidence from fellow players and coaches. I just think that the actual on-field impact of those abilities is vastly overrated by some, including (most importantly) Varitek’s agent, Scott Boras. On April 11 of next year, Varitek will turn 36 years old, which is relatively ancient for Major League catchers. I don’t need to explain to you how he has regressed offensively over the past 3 years, and it doesn’t take a Magic 8-Ball to predict that this trend will likely not be reversed.
Aside from Varitek, there has been a short list of veteran catchers who have been proposed as possible targets for Theo Epstein. Pudge Rodriguez, Bengie Molina…the names read like a cast list from Night of 1,000 Corpses. None of these guys are much of an improvement, and if the Sox wish to go the aging veteran route, they might as well just overpay for Varitek again and at least enjoy the benefit of stability.
On the other hand, the organization has Dusty Brown at their disposal, a guy in AAA who plays excellent defense and has shown impressive plate discipline. According to the Minor League Equivalency calcualtor at minorleaguesplits.com, Dusty’s 2008 MLE was .253/.323/.402. While the MLE system is a fringe science, a defensive catcher who can give you a 720 OPS at the Major League level is a valuable commodity.
We need to accept that Mike Piazza circa 1998 is not available to the Red Sox. The best, most reasonable scenario is for the team to play a “catch and throw” guy who can be expected to reach base in 32-35% of his plate appearances. Fortunately, the organization has that guy. Why not kick the tires and see what he can do? Why not save $10,000,000 and use it to pursue other ventures?
We should be grateful for what Jason Varitek has given the Boston Red Sox. He’s been one of the best 21st century catchers in the American League, and he’s been the leader of the franchise during their most triumphant time. Those days shouldn’t be forgotten. Alas, they are gone and they are not coming back. It’s time to close that door and open a new one.
Don’t lump Bengie Molina in with the Pudge Rodriguez cadaver class. Bengie has quietly been one of the best clutch hitters in baseball the last 4 years, and the Angels made a huge mistake when they let him go. At this point I would take him over Captek in a heartbeat. Why can’t just make Jason the bullpen coach or official pitch-calling coach from the dugout?