Jason

Varitek

Sherman has since updated the story to say that permission has been granted. Varitek is a player information coach with the Red Sox and has been a uniformed member of the staff since 2021, though he has no managerial experience. The Giants have already interviewed multiple candidates since cutting ties with Gabe Kapler, including interim manager Kai Correa and assistant coach Alyssa Nakken, as well as Mariners bullpen and quality control coach Stephen Vogt. According to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, it’s believed that the Giants could also have interest in talking to current Padres manager Bob Melvin, though that would obviously be quite complicated.

The Red Sox will continue to rotate regulars in and out of the lineup until the end of the season.

Of course that’s what he’s asking for. The Red Sox won’t give Varitek a no-trade clause and a five-year deal is also unrealistic. If Boras can get that kind of contract for another team, then the Red Sox will have to say goodbye to their catcher. However, probably the best he can hope for is four years with limited no-trade protection.

The Red Sox have gone to three years and $27 million with an option for a fourth year. That seems pretty generous to us. If Varitek, a one-time All-Star who turns 33 in April, really thinks he’s worth more than that, the Red Sox should set about proving they can win without him.

Agent Scott Boras said some time ago that there was a five-year offer from another team, but there’s no good reason to believe that. If sanity prevails -- admittedly a huge if -- four years should be the longest any team is willing to go with Varitek. Boston should be able to compete financially with any other offer, but Varitek still could leave if he insists on the no-trade clause.

Under Boras’s latest proposal, the Red Sox would have the right to void the 2008 season of the deal if an injury prevented Varitek from reaching a certain number of games played or plate appearances in 2007. That’s nice and all, but it really shouldn’t be good enough for Boston. The bigger concern isn’t that Varitek will be hurt in 2007 and 2008 -- it’s that he won’t be very good. We just can’t see any team matching Boston’s four-year, $36 million offer to Varitek. If the Sox don’t mind playing the waiting game, they’ll probably eventually get him to sign for that amount.

Varitek acknowledged he intends to make every effort to re-sign with the Red Sox before earnestly pursuing other opportunities. “Without shooting myself in the foot, yeah,” he said. “I think that we’ve made some progress. We’ve come off five years while still allowing me to have the opportunity to have five years.”

Whether this is good news or bad news for Jason Varitek remains to be seen. It won’t make much of a difference either way, but it will make things a little tougher on his fantasy owners -- at least the ones in leagues that allow daily changes. No longer can he just be benched every time Wakefield is set to start.

He is 12-26 with three homers and 9 RBI. Varitek is off to a solid start batting .325 overall, and remains one of the better hitting catchers in baseball.

The Red Sox have to know that’s more money than they should be spending to keep Varitek, but if Theo Epstein can keep finding bargains elsewhere, then overpaying to keep the “heart and soul” of the team probably won’t be too harmful.