End of the Line for Wake and ‘Tek With No Arbitration Offer?
The Red Sox chose not to offer salary arbitration to six members of last year’s club. Not surprisingly, J.D. Drew and Erik Bedard were part of that list as were outfielder Conor Jackson, Trevor Miller. Two veteran players were also passed upon giving an offer, Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek, raising the question, has their time in Boston come to an end?
GM Ben Cherington said that rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway will have every opportunity to make the club next spring. Is this a hint that Varitek is the odd man out? Likely, but never count out the weird and confusing decisions that tend to follow this club.
What about Wakefield? The 45-year old knuckleballer has done so much for the Red Sox over his eighteen years in Boston, but is he worth bringing back into the fold?
Let’s start with the captain, Varitek. The soon to be 40-year old catcher had a decent year last year, splitting the catching duties with Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Tek’ hit .221, with 11 homers and 36 RBI, while posting a .723 OPS. But in typical Varitek fashion, the second half of the season saw his numbers dip dramatically to the tune of batting just .176 after the All-Star break.
The other concerning aspect of Varitek’s game is his inability to throw out base runners. Last year he only caught 12 out of 85 base stealers for a lowly 14%. It’s no secret that opposing teams that have speed like to and will run on Varitek every chance they get. The Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays are particularly good at swiping bags when Tek is catching and it quite often includes stealing third base.
With Lavarnway providing some late season brilliance in his limited game action, it did offer some excitement and promise for Red Sox fans. Who could forget the two home runs he crushed in game 161 in Baltimore. And then there was the throw down to third to nail the base runner trying to steal the bag.
Saltalamacchia came on after a slow start to the season, finishing with a .235 average, .450 SLG and .737 OPS. He also jacked 16 long balls and collected 56 RBI. From a defensive standpoint, Salty threw out 31% of runners trying to steal on him, a much better and more consistent number than Varitek’s.
As far as Wakefield goes, it comes down to the question of whether his 45-year old knuckleball can still bring value and help this club. While everyone waited almost two months for him to finally win his 200th career game last summer, it was his remarks following the season that may have sealed his fate.
Who could forget how Wakefield described that he should return so the Fenway Faithful could watch him attempt to break more Red Sox pitching records. Pardon me? Since when did this become about Tim Wakefield and not the Boston Red Sox.
It’s this type of attitude that the Red Sox need to get rid off. It’s called a fresh start after a disastrous end to the year.
Wakefield does bring some value to the Red Sox via the bullpen and spot starter although there could be other options, both through free agency and the minor league system. Wake didn’t exactly dominate games this year.
Perhaps the biggest drawback against both Wake and Tek is the lack of leadership that apparently the clubhouse was lacking in a time of need. I won’t get into the whole chicken and beergate fiasco, but it’s worth noting again that these two wily veterans were not the leaders this team needed them to be.
Their hour glass appears to have run out of sand. They both will be remembered for all the good that they did in Boston and not for the past two months of the 2011 season. For me, when I think of Varitek I think of 2003 and how he stood up to A-Rod and made him eat his leather catchers mitt. He was a leader then and he led the team to two World Series titles.
But times change and sometimes a new face and leader is required. By not offering arbitration to both of these vets this is the start of the new direction that Cherington and the Red Sox need to take.
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