Jason Varitek has officially been classified as a Type B free agent by the Elias Sports Bureau, according to MLB Trade Rumors. If he signs with another team after being offered salary arbitration, the Red Sox will be entitled to one pick in the compensatory sandwich round of the 2012 draft.
The Red Sox also announced that they declined their team options on Type B free agent Dan Wheeler and unclassified Scott Atchison.
As expected, David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon are both Type A free agents, and would each yield Boston two draft picks (a sandwich pick and the first- or second-round pick from the signing team) if they were to sign elsewhere after declining arbitration.
All of the Red Sox' other free agents are unclassified.
Atchison remains on the team's 40-man roster because he lacked the sufficient service time in 2011 to be eligible for arbitration.
After each regular season, Elias ranks every player based on his performance over a two year period (i.e. 201011). Free agents are labeled A, B, or unclassified to determine compensation for the team away from which they could be signed.
In the 2011 draft, the Red Sox received four picksfor departed Type A free agents Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre, but forfeited their own first round pick to Tampa Bay to sign Type A free agent Carl Crawford.
Boston Red Sox
If the Red Sox offer arbitration to Varitek, Wheeler, Ortiz, and Papelbon, and all of them sign major league deals with different teams, Boston will receive six additional picks in the first two rounds of the 2012 draft.