According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, Jason Varitek is asking for a salary of $10-12 million a year from the Boston Red Sox.
Here is where they stand in the impasse: Varitek is asking for an annual salary close to the $10 million to $12 million he would’ve made through arbitration or a two-year deal for less annual salary. The Red Sox are willing to pay him much less than that and don’t feel they owe him extra cash for services rendered in the past, and they don’t feel they owe it to him to offer a salary commensurate with what Varitek would’ve made if he had accepted arbitration.
The reason the Red Sox made that offer of arbitration had as much to do with evaluating the value of the compensation draft pick as it was about Varitek’s value to them. Now that compensation issue is no longer a factor for the team, because they’ve successfully attached the pick to Varitek.
If Varitek continues to ask for that much money from the Red Sox, he’s probably going to find himself without a job to start the season because there’s no one out there other than the Red Sox inquiring about his services.
I still think that he will end up with the Red Sox though. I figure he’ll end up a signing a 1-year deal worth about $7-8 million although the salary could be lower with some obtainable incentives or a 2-year deal worth about $15 million or so.
Dan Roche of WBZ still doesn’t understand why a deal hasn’t been done.
And don’t forget to vote in the poll in the left sidebar about Varitek’s situation.
