According to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox have set a Saturday deadline for their free agent catcher Jason Varitek to accept their offer.
The Red Sox have set a Saturday deadline for Jason Varitek to accept or reject a one-year offer, according to a source close to the negotiations.
The club set the Jan. 31 deadline in order to keep negotiations with its free agent captain and catcher from inching any closer to the Feb. 12 spring training reporting date in Fort Myers.
This makes sense as if they don’t get a deal done, they will need to move forward with trade talks or just decide to go with what they have at catcher.
Hopefully Tek is able to put aside any ego and accept what the Red Sox have offered him. And if you want to know how valuable he is to the team, just check out what former Sox catcher Kevin Cash had to say about him.
UPDATE: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe confirms what Silverman says and adds that Varitek can choose between a 1-year deal and the other offer.
According to another source, Varitek has the choice of picking between either a straight one-year, $5 million contract or a one-year offer for a guaranteed $5 million with a dual option for 2010.
For Varitek, the one-year offer may prove more appealing because it would allow him to re-enter the market again next fall, at which point he might have greater earning power.
The $5 million offer would be half of what Varitek would have gotten in arbitration had he chosen to accept it. The ball is now in Varitek’s court. It’s up to him whether he returns it or not.
UPDATE 6:00 PM: The AP is reporting that the deadline is Friday.
UPDATE 8:00 PM: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe clarifies the deadline and it is Friday.
Amid confusion about the actual deadline for Jason Varitek to accept or decline the Red Sox’ latest contract offer, a baseball source indicated tonight that the player was given “one week” to make a decision in a letter both he and agent Scott Boras received from the club on Friday, Jan. 23.
According to the same source, the Red Sox dated and mailed the letter on Thursday, Jan. 22, raising the question of whether the Sox meant to establish the deadline on the night of Thursday, Jan. 29. However, all indications are that club factored in the delivery time of the letter, placing the deadline at the end of the current work week.
So like before we’ll still probably find out on Saturday.
