Boston Sports Then and Now

Theo is wasting no time tinkering with the Red Sox Roster

We’ve got a handful of things to talk about, following an eventful day initiated by Theo Epstein and company on Monday.

We’ll start with the captain. On Monday, the Red Sox declined the $5 million club option that remained on the contract signed by Jason Varitek this past offseason. However, still remaining is a $3 million player option, which Varitek can exercise himself and return to Boston no questions asked.

If and when Varitek exercises his $3 million option for 2010, he has performances bonuses in his contract that could potentially boost his 2010 earnings to $5 million.

On top of being guaranteed $3 million, the 37-year-old will receive $400,000 each for reaching the plateaus of 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 games played. It’s only reasonable to assume that the most he could make would be in the $400-$800K range, if that.

I can almost promise you that Varitek will be with the Red Sox on Opening Day, maybe not starting, but definitely on the roster. There is absolutely no way that a catcher who hit .209 with a .313 OBP in 425 plate appearances could command more than $3 million with $2 million in incentives on the open market.
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Alex Gonzalez gave the Sox reliable defense and a little pop in his bat.

If I told you that the Red Sox and A-Gon were making some headlines in the Hot Stove column, your eyes would more than likely light up, thinking that the “A-Gon” that I was referring to was Adrian Gonzalez.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but this one’s about the other A-Gon.

On Sunday, the Globe’s Tony Massarotti shared that the Red Sox have declined the $6 million option that remained on Alex Gonzalez’s 3-year, $14 million contact that the shortstop signed with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2007.

Now, more often than not, a player whose option is declined by the team in which he was previously under contract with does not return. However, the Red Sox have specified their interest in bringing Gonzalez back in a Red Sox uniform, just not for $6 million.

FanGraphs listed Gonzalez’s 2009 production value as being $2.4 million, while he was being paid $5.38 million. This past winter, the New York Mets signed Alex Cora to a one-year deal worth $2 million. Bringing back Gonzalez on a deal similar to this seems reasonable, as they are virtually the same mold of baseball player. Solid defense, and we’ll take the offense when we can get it.

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