Posts Tagged ‘Boston Red Sox’
Sox Owner Henry Engaged to 30 year old
Meet Linda Pizzuti, the future Mrs John Henry:
Pizzuti, 30, is from Lynnfield, and she and her family are in the real estate development business. She’s been a near-constant companion of the Sox owner in recent months, traveling with him to Europe and hosting parties on his 164-foot yacht.
Source: boston.com
Henry just got divorced from his wife of 14 years in the Summer of 2008. That’s six months ago.
Is he chasing Elizabeth Taylor’s record? Does he think this is a soap opera? Dude, what are you doing? You landed a girl literally half your age; bravo. Take your time. It’s amazing how people that are clearly so smart and can be so stupid.
Is Varitek Really A Switch-Hitter?
Now that we know Jason Varitek is coming back to the Red Sox, let’s think about how he can improve on a putrid 2008 season.
The most glaring issue is the alleged switch-hitting tag. Over the past three season (2006-2008), Varitek is batting .238 with .230 left-side and .258 right-side. Even in this explosive offensive age, you can live with a ~.260 hitter at important defense position like catcher or shortstop. Last year when he was hitting was truly nauseating, he hit .220 for the season by going .201 left-handed yet a whopping .284 when batting right-handed, his nature side. (Note: Watching Varitek hit left-handed is like watching Michael Vick at a PETA rally: awkward and painful.)
How can his season avg be so crappy when he is a better than avg hitter from the right-side? Because of the stupid lefty/righty matchup baseball tradition Tek hit from the left-side nearly 78% of the time!
The question is: should Varitek hit only from the right-side regardless of the pitcher? I say yes. Would his average be .284 if he hit righty against lefty pitchers, absolutely not. But would it be as bad as .201? Can’t be.
If Varitek wants to play for the Red Sox he should only be a right-handed batter. Theo beat him down on the money, he should beat him down on this one too.
Varitek Swallow Pride
He’s back:
Jason Varitek and the Red Sox have agreed to a one-year contract with an option, a baseball source confirmed to the Globe’s Tony Massarotti.
Varitek will earn $5 million in 2009, with the club holding a $5 million option for 2010. If the Red Sox do not pick up that option, Varitek has the choice of remaining with the club on a $3 million deal. In ‘10, he can earn another $2 million in incentives based on playing time, beginning at 80 games started.
Source: boston.com
So who won? Theo - in a Mike Tyson mid-80s TKO in 1:29 of the first round kind of victory. The value of this deal, if Varitek plays in 2010 with be less than he could have gotten for the 2009 season if he had accepted arbitration.
So if anyone is keeping score, that’s now Theo 2, Scott Boras Infinity.
Now how this plays out for Manny Ramirez, who is facing a similar zero leverage situation, will certainly be interesting. The difference being of course that Manny is first ballot Hall of Fame player who can still hit .300. Tek? More like .200.
Varitek Has Until Friday
Jason Varitek has until Friday to accept a deal from the Boston Red Sox. The details of the offered are here in a blog by Rob Bradford:
WEEI.com has learned from a source close to the negotiations that the two-year offer made by the Red Sox to catcher Jason Varitek is for $5 million for the first year, along with a club option for $5 million or a $3 million player option for season No. 2 of the deal.
Source: weei.com
Hmmm, sounds just almost exactly like the Petite deal that I said Varitek should be expecting just yesterday.
Petite Signs with Yanks for $5.5M
Andy Petite wanted closer to the $16M he made last year. The New York Yankees offered $10M. Petite didn’t want to be embarrassed by taking such a huge pay cut. Months and months passed with no offers. Eventually, reality kick in and Petite signed for nearly 1/2 of what was first offered, though he has incentives to make $10M total based on performance.
Now, I’m looking at you, Jason Varitek. Sound familiar? This is the reality staring you in the face. Face it - Scott Boras screwed you. You’ve always been overrated, but now you can’t hit better than .220 and still expected a multi-year deal with a pay raise over the $10M you made in 2008. I don’t want the Boston Red Sox to take you back, however, from your perspective, you need to swallow your pride and a take Petite-like deal with the before it’s too late and you end up with a minor league contract with the Brewers.
Still No Deal For Varitek
Jason Varitek is still unemployed with no new offers after perhaps miscalculating the market worse than any other player in baseball.
Representatives for the Boston Red Sox and Jason Varitek are continuing to talk in the wake of the catcher’s meeting with owner John Henry last week, but the sides appear no closer to a deal than they have been for weeks.
Source: Boston.com
*Shaking head*
Jason, when you sign a two year deal for $5M/year (that’s half of what you could have gotten in arbitration), you may feel a slight sting. That’s pride messing with you. Screw pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps.
