Jason Varitek is an idiot

Jason Varitek has been riding his reputation for about two seasons now. He's regarded as a once great offensive catcher who "knows how to handle the Sox pitching staff" and is "a great clubhouse guy." But how much is that worth, really?

Remember how good I used to be? Pay me like that. Now.

It appears Varitek is on the verge of refusing a ridiculously generous offer of $5 mil/one season plus a club option, opting to "retire or sit out '09."

Red Sox fan or not, this is a prime example of the insanity that is baseball signing. Forget the Sabathia's and Teixeira's signing huge deals - hell, they earn it. It's deals like this that really harm baseball.

Here are two players 2008 seasons. Can ya guess which one is Varitek?

.220/13/43/.313 OBP/.359 SLG/73 OPS+ and 28.5% runners caught
.237/6/30/.340 OBP/.359 SLG/87 OPS+ and 35% runners caught

Player A is Varitek, while player B is Gregg Zaun - who just signed with the Orioles for...$1.5 million in 2009 with an option for 2010.

Zaun is straight up better than Varitek at this point in their careers. Zaun is one year older, but costs one fifth as much and has better numbers across the board. And this is not a one season anamoly. Zaun has outperformed Varitek for the past three seasons.

Now, many will say "Well Zaun doesn't know the pitchers!"and they'd be right. But honestly, how much does that affect pitchers effectiveness? One percent? Ten? It's a farce.

I'm all for loyalty to a great player whose only known Boston. But there comes a time when economics outweigh loyalty. If he doesn't want to play for fives times more than his market worth, let him go.

Gimme Zaun and $4 mil. over Varitek any day.