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Boston should 'value' Varitek |
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 |
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By TERRY NAU Sports editor Some things I think I think:
• Boston Red Sox players showed some of the fine character that pushed them to the top of the baseball world on Wednesday while sticking up for their coaches and trainers over a payment issue involving the trip to Japan.
Listening to Jason Varitek praise Boston’s support staff in an ESPN interview while negotiations were going on with Major League Baseball officials, one couldn’t help but appreciate what a standup guy the captain of the Red Sox has been for the past decade and more.
I’ve heard some Red Sox fans criticize Varitek for his offensive stats. They don’t think the team should extend his contract, which expires after this season. Those are the fans who do not understand the game. They google-search statistics over the Internet and think they can quantify the value of a player.
What they don’t realize is how a catcher is involved in every pitch of the game. While Manny Ramirez crouches in left field between pitches, wondering when the moon will rise over the grandstand, Varitek is running the game, talking to his pitchers, getting signals from the dugout, and giving signs, not only to the pitcher but to his middle infielders as well.
Maybe the Sox will get lucky and trade for a young catcher this season. Maybe George Kottaras will develop some defensive skills this year in Pawtucket to go along with his improving offense. Even so, the Sox would be making a big mistake if they don’t re-sign Varitek for at least two more years.
The problem, of course, is the Yankees gave Jorge Posada four years and $52M to stick around. Varitek’s agent is Scott Boras. So you know where this is heading. Unless Varitek intervenes in the negotations process next October, he’s heading to the free agent market.
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• It was no surprise to read where the Yankees announced on Wednesday that Joba Chamberlain will begin the season in the bullpen. The rookie righthander will be restricted to 140 innings this season, making it almost a certainty that he spend half of the year in the bullpen, doing what he did so well last August and September while serving as a “bridge” to Mariano Rivera.
Chamberlain’s future is as a starter. The Yankees said as much on Wednesday. What people don’t appreciate is the time and effort it takes for a top-notch prospect to make the transition from the high minors to the big leagues. Same holds true for Clay Buchholz and perhaps even Jon Lester this season (not to mention Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy of the Yankees).
That’s why the 2008 season has a different feel for Yankee and Red Sox fans. The Yanks haven’t developed a successful young starter since Andy Pettitte in 1996. They’ve bought or traded for almost everyone else.
PawSox faithful can appreciate this rather mundane list of big league starters developed by Boston over that same time frame: Aaron Sele, Carl Pavano, Jeff Suppan and Tomo Okha. PawSox publicity director Bill Wanless reminded me Wednesday that Bronson Arroyo came over in a deal from Pittsburgh and wasn’t really developed by Boston. Derek Lowe also came in a trade with Seattle (along with Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb!).
This year, Sox fans can thrust their chins out over Lester and Buchholz, the two best starting pitchers developed by Boston since John Tudor, Bobby Ojeda and Bruce Hurst passed through Pawtucket on their way to Fenway Park in the early 1980s.
Maybe the key to the 2008 American League East pennant race will be the contributions made by the young pitchers on both New York and Boston. Everything else about these two teams seems pretty much the same.
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• As good as the Boston Celtics have been these past few months, it was only this week that they established themselves as legitimate contenders for the NBA championship. Victories in San Antonio and Houston on Monday and Tuesday nights said more about this team’s ability to succeed than any other wins this season, including two earlier triumphs over likely conference finals rival Detroit.
To see Danny Ainge’s latest roster addition — veteran guard Sam Cassell — come up big against San Antonio was further proof that this team is now constructed to go the distance in May and June. Cassell has made a reputation for himself as a big-game performer, especially late in games with the ball in his hands. He makes starting point guard Rajon Rondo better just by being around to play some key minutes when the second-year player needs a rest. Cassell also deepens the rotation for coach Doc Rivers, who can go 10 players deep in the playoffs and get solid contributions from each guy off the bench.
The Western Conference may have two or three teams better than Boston. Only one of them can make it to the finals. Meanwhile, Boston only has to worry about Detroit and Orlando, who likely will meet in the semifinals while the Celtics deal with Cleveland, which has LeBron James and little else.
If the Celtics do win their first NBA title in 21 years, Minnesota general manager Kevin McHale should earn an assist for trading likely league MVP Kevin Garnett to his old team. Somewhere, Red Auerbach is blowing cigar smoke through the clouds while explaining that deal to his former owner, Walter Brown.
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• Tiger Woods’ winning streak has got to end this week, right? He’s teeing it up in the CA World Championship tournament at Doral Country Club, facing a field that includes 49 of the world’s top 50 players. Someone among those 49 must have the game to challenge Woods.
The most likely scenario for Woods losing is the one where Tiger’s swing goes south and his putter doesn’t bail him out. Because if he’s in contention on Saturday, most of the field is coming back to him, the way it did at Arnold Palmer’s tournament last weekend.
When Tiger struggles off the tee, his recovery shots and short game usually keep him in the Top 10. That’s not true for anyone else. And when Tiger is on his game, nobody else in the field can win. It’s that simple.
And here’s one last thing about Tiger: He has ruined the rest of the PGA Tour for me. If Tiger’s not playing, I’m not watching. Tiger’s greatness has blinded my appreciation of everyone else in the game today. In his prime, Arnold Palmer had the same effect. Fortunately for the Tour, Jack Nicklaus came along to challenge The King. Palmer and Nicklaus also had Gary Player and Billy Casper, two great players in their own right who would not fold under pressure.
That’s not true today. Tiger stands so far ahead of everyone else that he devalues the rest of the world’s greatest players. Singh and Ernie Els should be embarrassed at the way they fold when Tiger shows up on the leaderboard. Sergio Garcia has too many holes in his game to challenge Woods over 72 holes.
Looks like Tiger will remain alone at the top until he turns 40 years old, an age when putting strokes and nerves finally fray. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 March 2008 )
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