here we are again.

Tek, our Cap'n, filed for free angency today, the first day players eligible for free agency were allowed to do so. for the next fifteen days, the Sox have exclusive rights to talk to Tek before the other 29 teams can begin making bids if they have an interest. it wasn't a noteworthy season for Tek, offensively, but i keep coming back to this selection from "Dynasty" and recalling all that the Captain brings to the plate with him, regardless of his batting average. i know that baseball is a business, but in a day where loyalty is rare, i think there are some players that deserve the respect of retiring with the team of which they are the very soul... especially when players like Tek are as rare as that loyalty. this isn't just about a favorite player, nor is it just about the lack of available catchers, whether by free agency or trade. sometimes in a loved one's waning days, you make a place for them to go out surrounded by those who love them best, in the place where they are happiest... be that literally or figuratively... not because it's easy for anyone but because it is as much about respect and compassion as anything else. bring him back, Theo. find a way...
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Indeed, Jason Varitek was that rare player whom everyone respected, from reporters to teammates to team executives to fans. He was a professional in every sense of the word....By the time the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, Varitek's importance was indisputable. Managers and coaches raved about his work ethic, commitment to detail, thorough preparation. In 2001, when the Red Sox ultimately unraveled in a season that led to the firing of manager Jimy Williams, a season-ending injury to Varitek was seen by many as more damning than injuries to either Nomar Garciaparra or Pedro Martinez. Without the latter two, the Red Sox continued to have some success. But once Varitek was lost to a broken elbow--an injury he suffered while diving into the on-deck circle to catch a foul pop-up in a game the Red Sox were winning by a landslide--it was as if the team's spinal cord had been ripped out. (Any suggestion that the events were unrelated was destroyed in 2006, when Varitek was lost to a knee injury and the team similarly came unglued.)

Varitek's injury was symbolic, a fact that was duly noted. Though he could just as easily have let the ball drop at no cost to the Red Sox, he made the play. Jason Varitek had one speed.

After protracted negotiations with agent Scott Boras, the Red Sox and the player came to terms, just before Christmas, on a four-year, $40 million contract. Though the Red Sox privately had been feeding the media information about how the productivity of catchers plummeted after their 35th birthday--Varitek would turn 33 in early April 2005--the club uncharacteristically caved in and gave Varitek four years. Boras, who had been seeking a five-year contract and was known to shoot for the moon, showed similar deference to his client and budged some, making it seem as if everyone knew that Jason Varitek wanted to remain in Boston, and that both sides would make some sacrifices as a result.

While many media members questioned whether the Red Sox bid against themselves in the negotiations, they badly missed the point. Jason Varitek was vital to the on-field and off-field succes of the Red Sox. The Red Sox had to keep him.

"We could not be happier. It's not every day that you're lucky enough to find a player who embodies everything you want your franchise to be," Epstein said at the Varitek signing. "When you're lucky enough to have that player, you don't let him get away. You lock him away for as long as you can and you make him the rock of your franchise."
(Tony Massorotti, "Dynasty")