Late Innings

Seriously.

According to a baseball source, the deadline by which (Jason) Varitek must accept or decline the Red Sox’ latest contract offer is set for 8:30 a.m. Friday, leaving less than a day for the matter to play out. According to the same source, Varitek is seriously considering the option of sitting out the 2009 season and/or retiring rather than accepting the contract offer made to him last week.

In that proposal, the Red Sox gave Varitek the choice of a one-year contract for a guaranteed $5 million or a one-year deal for $5 million with a vesting option. In the latter scenario, Varitek would earn another $5 million if the team exercises the option for 2010, and $3 million if the option is exercised by the player.

I wrote about this yesterday and I’ll say it again. Players who love the game are taking pay cuts left and right, including Jon Garland (~5MM), Mark Kotsay (~7MM), Andy Pettite (~10MM), and Pat Burrell (~5MM.) And even though Federal Interest rates are at 0%, deflation is still hitting the baseball world hard, being in “the worst economic times since the Great Depression” and all.

Varitek and Boras need to get out of their bubble. He should be happy that the club has offered them two contracts. However common sense dictates that there is no market whatsoever for an aging catcher coming off a .220, 73 OPS+ season. It’s that simple. A 5MM contract for those numbers is an incredibly generous offer on behalf of the Red Sox. It’s a shame that “the captain” and “the super agent” can’t figure this out. Seriously.