The Red Sox and catcher Jason Varitek have finally come to an agreement.
ESPN is reporting that the Boston Red Sox and catcher Jason Varitek have reached a preliminary agreement on a one-year contract worth $5 million, two major league sources tell ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick.
The Red Sox have a club option for $5 million in 2010. If they decline, there is a player option for $3 million. Only in the player option are incentives that would pay Varitek up to $2 million if he plays 120 games, or a smaller amount if he plays 80 games, the sources told Stark.
Varitek must take a physical before the agreement is completed. Boston’s 12-year veteran, who hit .220 last year, became a free agent after completing a $40 million, four-year contract.
This is great news for baseball fans everywhere who were sick of reading more Varitek threads than Manny Ramirez!
For months we have been inundated with constant updates, and bickering and rumors about Varitek on rumor mills everywhere. MLB Blogs had over two dozen Varitek blog posts a week. MLB Trade Rumors actually had a daily Varitek thread just to keep up. I bet nobody is more relieved today than Tim Dierkes, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman.
The Red Sox will now have their 37-year old, .226 hitting catcher back for at least two more seasons.
Suddenly, Brian Schneider looks like a stud!
