The Red Sox declined their $5 team option on Jason Varitek yesterday, but the Captain had a $3 million player option that he decided to exercise last night:
Varitek is done as a useful player. His bat is subpar and his defense is atrocious. Given that the Sox exercised their option on Victor Martinez, ‘Tek will almost certainly be the backup catcher, making those incentives less than likely to kick in absent a Youkilis or Lowell injury that forces Martinez to first base.
NESN learned on Monday night that the 37-year-old Varitek will exercise his $3 million player option for 2010 that includes up to another $2 million in incentives. The move is expected to be formalized on Tuesday and will keep Varitek with the Red Sox through at least the end of 2010.
With the incentives, Varitek would earn an additional $400,000 for starting 80 games in 2010 and another bonus for every 10 starts thereafter.