Hot Stove

[Bigcat]

Varitek to the Tigers? Lets hope so, this stiff has been around here two years to long

[ThomCat]

Where'd ya get that one???????

[BigFish]

I f Varitek was smart he would take the hometown discount rather then toil in obscurity in Detroit! That is one of the last places I would want to play!

[Mike P]

Comparing Varitek's "defense" to Pudge's is like comparing Don Buddin's defense to Luis Aparicio's

Varitek can't throw out an old lady and is a passed ball machine (even though many get scored as wild pitches). He calls a great game, granted, but that's just one aspect of catching. He can't throw and he can't hit his weight any more. And as the Sox pitching staff matures, his pitch calling becomes less significant. Beckett and Schilling, if he comes back, don't need a great pitch-calling catcher, and neither does Dice K at this point. Lester can think on his own too, and as far as Bucholtz goes, how much worse could he have been this year with Cash calling the game?

[The Dad Fisherman]

and don't forget he can't catch Wakefield either, and he is coming back for a 15th season.

I think its time....

[Clogston29]

if some team wants to overpay him, good for him and i hope he takes it

there's got to be another catcher out there who can hit 220 and play decent defense. you probably have to give up a pitcher or two to get one, but your going to have to get one eventually. youk has value. maybe trade him for a catcher if you can sign Texiera. We all love youk, but texiera is better. Ideally you'd deal Lowell and have Tex and Youk, but there's no way anyone's taking on Lowell's salary at this point.

[The Dad Fisherman]

Can Texiera play both sides of the diamond w/ gold glove caliber at both positions....thats a hidden value in Youk right there...especially with a fragile Lowell at 3rd. Their numbers last year were very comparable...Texiera has a little more power. And youk has been progressively improving year after year.

the 2 untouchables, to me at least, should be youk and pedroia....need some heart on the team (Don't believe me, ask the Yank-mees)

There are a couple of decent free-agent catchers out there that they may be able to pick up. You got Zaughn in Toronto and Molina in San Fran that are free agents. hell there's got be some other Molina's out there somewhere....see if they have a sister.

you could always just go with Cash.....he's cheap and his numbers are Tek-like

[striperman36]

We will offer TEK a deal but I think Boras with get him a better deal somewhere else.
His offensive production was way down. On the other hand we need an experienced catcher to handle the young studs in the pen. He also has worked well with all of the starting rotation, including DiceK.

I think Lowell will be on the block, Luigo, and Crisp.

Kotsay is a free agent, so Texeria might be in our future, however Theo favors building from the farm up, so it will be interesting.

[Clogston29]

theo loves texeira, like he loved drew