(tip of the hat to IDYFT Commentor The Black Freighter for sending this story along)
Scott Boras would have gotten that Final Jeopardy answer wrong, wrong, wrong.
He is telling Boston that if they want the 36 year old catcher (37 in April) it will cost them last year's Jorge Posada type (4 years, $52 million) money. Never you mind that The Yankees probably would not sign Jorge Posada to Jorge Posada type money if they could do it over again.
Scott Boras seems to think that everyone thinks it is 2005. That was the last year that Jason Varitek wasn't anything more than an excellent pitch-caller. Even if you throw out an injury-riddled 2006, Varitek's offensive decline has been quick and obvious and across the board.
Pick a stat, and check his 2005 numbers and compare them to his 2007 or 2008 numbers. Hits, HR, RBI, Avg. OPS, etc--lots of them down over 50% in those years. But let's look at the most basic of statistics real quick--in 2005, Varitek hit .281; 2007, .255; in 2008, he hit .220. You know how many veteran catchers who hit .220 you can get for $52 million? I'd guess a solid half-dozen, at least. Scott Boras argues that Varitek "is paid to lead and paid to get his team to win. His offensive production, while certainly something that has been considered in the upper echelon for catchers (isn’t as important), I know from the past negotiation with Boston, his offense was a very small value in the marketplace.”
Scott Boras, that's Horsepucky! If Varitek is valued far and wide for everything but his offense, why is his most recent All Star Year that 2005 offensively productive year? And under that logic, why not get Cincinnati to re-sign Johnny Bench for like 3 or 4 million dollars a year? I bet he can still call a game, and maybe hit .100 or so.
And speaking as a Twins fan, we would be more than happy for the Detroit Tigers to pay a ton of money to get Jason Varitek.
Do it Detroit! Get in a bidding war with Boston! We're sure there will be no long-term ramifications for overpaying on a contract that ends when your new catcher turns 41! Do it!
2 comments:
Your final paragraph reminds me of when Kyle was egging on Cartman to jump off his roof when he had cardboard wings affixed to his arms. And we all know how that ended up. Do it... I think it's a great idea!
Thanks for the tip 'o the cap, kind sir.
Logical enough -- stop the presses, an athlete is being overpaid!
But cruel to post, considering that J.V. used to play Little League with one of our classmates from THOTM. V's nickname back then?
Franchise.
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