Happy birthday to long-time Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, who turns 42 years old today. Varitek played all 1546 of his career Major League games in a Boston jersey, posting a .776 OPS and collecting two World Series rings along the way. Varitek retired prior to the 2012 season and, since September 2012, has been working as a special assistant to Sox GM Ben Cherington. Here's the latest out of Fenway Park…
- David Ross tells WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that his good friend and former teammate Brian McCann had an interest in joining the Red Sox as a free agent last winter. "Early on I did (think McCann would come to Boston). I knew he wanted to come here, a lot. I had just told him what it was like here and that interested him," Ross said. Once McCann said that the Yankees had made him a big offer, however, Ross stayed out of the recruiting process out of respect for letting McCann handle his own business, plus the fact that "the Red Sox weren’t even close to what he got, so it really was a no-brainer."
- Also from Bradford's piece, he reports that the Red Sox had interest in Eric O'Flaherty last offseason. O'Flaherty underwent Tommy John surgery last May and isn't expected to pitch until midseason, but the veteran southpaw still drew interest from several teams last winter before signing a two-year, $7MM deal with the Athletics.
- Several Red Sox players contacted the players' union about their displeasure that players who had been suspended for PED use last season (namely, Jhonny Peralta) were eligible to play in the postseason, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports. Players on other teams voiced similar concerns, and the revised joint drug agreement states that players who have been hit with a PED suspension during a season aren't allowed to participate in that same season's playoffs.
- While John Lackey resurrected his career in 2013 and has pitched well in two 2014 starts, it may be premature for the Red Sox to explore an extension for the right-hander, Chris Villani of the Boston Herald opines. Lackey is under contract in 2015 for a league minimum salary (a condition of his contract after undergoing Tommy John surgery) and since Boston has a number of good young pitchers in the minor league pipeline, Villani believes the Sox can afford to wait to see if Lackey is truly back to form before considering another contract.
Lackey will be 36, going on 37 heading into the 2016 season. he is pitching good early in 2014 and pitched fabulous last year. We can hope he continues to pitch close to as well as he has been, ever since he had his arm fixed 2 years back until age catches up to him, but I wouldn’t worry about approaching any SP about an expensive contract extension in this situation until probably half way through next (2015) season.
Not sure I agree johnsilver–he’s scheduled to pitch for $500,000 next season-he should have a few bucks left over even after his divorce to live comfortably on if he chose to retire for a year then come back after his contract expires. Instead of a new contract how about an extension–lets say of $30 M for 3 years. The Sox do have plenty of good young arms but if they allow Peavy and Lester to walk and trade Doubrount they have no experience left in the rotation other than Buch.
Keep Lackey in 2015, but certainly don’t extend him beyond that.
Lester is the number 1 priority right now.
Okay, my comment disappeared, but I find it funny that Red Sox players are complaining about people using PEDs.
Hey as a BB fan I find it appalling that a player caught using is allowed to play in that season’s postseason as well. If it had been David Ortiz and he led them to a WS I would consider it a tainted championship and I’m a Sox fan. There is no place for PED’s in sports—I am thrilled the PU supports this. By the way I like AROD but to have him ask the PU to pay for his legal representation is way out of line—if that, in fact, is what he did.
Depending on how things shake out by the end of 2015, with all the pitching the Sox have in the system right now, they may not even need Lackey in 2016. And who knows how much he’ll even have left in the tank at that point? Very premature and hardly worth discussing at this point.
If they were a small market team that’s fine but as someone said earlier if Peavy, Lester and Lackey go (which there is a strong possiblilty) then you’ll have alot of question marks. Besides Bucholz you’ll have no pitchers with MLB experience in the toughest division in a hitters park. Good luck.
That is entirely untrue. There are almost two seasons left to get the young kids experience before that even becomes an issue. And there is also the part where they would be much cheaper and entering the primes of their careers whereas Lackey would be on the way out, if he has anything left to give. Workman is slated to go down to AAA and be stretched out as a starter. He was a pivotal part of a World Series winning club. Are you saying he won’t have enough experience by the time 2016 rolls around to be a respectable starter at the Major League level? Again the conversation is premature, because they should have several young pitchers ready, willing and able to play major rolls in the starting rotation before Lackey’s contract is even up. And there is plenty of time between now and then for them to get the experience they need to contribute.