Put another way, can the Red Sox survive with Jason Varitek’s declining numbers at the platem (.247, 15 HR, 62 RBI last two seasons)?
The bottom line is winning and the Red Sox are a better team when he is catching. Just go back to the 2006 season when he missed all of August. The Sox flunked their drive for the pennant and tumbled like Humpty-Dumpty.
Can the Sox afford a .200 average with 8 HR and 50 RBI? That’s another question, but probably.
Varitek’s importance is running the team and especially the pitching staff.
He knows every batter, inside and out, in the American League. Nobody studies the opposition, not even Bill James, like Varitek does.
He does go through some slumps (he hit .234 and .222 the last two months of 2007), but at the seventh spot in the lineup, especially with Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew having decent seasons in front of him, it’s acceptable.
The problem I see with Varitek is that when he looks bad at the plate, he looks very bad. And that sticks with a lot of people.
But he comes up with clutch hits as much as anybody not named David Ortiz.
His influence in the clubhouse is immeasurable. Players, especially the younger ones, fear him (in a good way).
You will not see attitudes lingering or complainers. It just doesn’t happen.
As for the future of Varitek beyond 2008, that’s an argument for a later date. But for this season, especially with the team relying on so many young arms (Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen and Clay Buchholz) his job performance at catcher will be even greater.
I say yes.
Do you agree?
