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Nov 07, 2004 08:41

BOSTON -- By all accounts, he is the leader of the Boston Red Sox. Be it behind the plate, in the dugout or in the clubhouse, there are really no arguments from anyone around the team that Jason Varitek is in complete and total charge.
Though he isn't the captain officially (the Red Sox haven't had once since the retirement of Jim Rice), that's exactly what Varitek has been over the last few years.

Suddenly, the leader is a free agent. The Red Sox have until Nov. 11 to sign Varitek. After that, they will be battling with 29 other teams for the services of the invaluable catcher.

Of all the free agents the World Series champion Red Sox have this winter -- a list that includes prominent players such as Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera -- Varitek is the one player who is almost impossible to picture in another uniform.

If his true wishes are granted, there will be no other uniform.

"My heart's here, so we'll see," said Varitek as he was packing up his locker for the championship parade Boston waited 86 years for.

As much as Varitek would like to stay with the team and the city he has represented so well since coming to the Major Leagues for good in 1998, he isn't going to sell himself short. In fact, he spoke for not just himself, but some of his teammates in how the veteran players will approach free agency.

"I've also had to play an entire season with all the risk on my part," said Varitek. "And all of us had to. We still have to be treated fairly."

The Red Sox have spent this week doing preliminary work in an attempt to strike deals with their free agents. Though numerous reports have stated that Varitek and Martinez are the team's top priority, general manager Theo Epstein has a policy of keeping contract discussions confidential.

Varitek is 32 years old, an age some catchers start their downswing. But Varitek has played the best baseball of his career the last two seasons and, if anything, seems to be getting better. In 2004, he hit .296 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs.

Because of his sheer strength and the way he works out, Varitek could age better than any catcher since Carlton Fisk.

Varitek wouldn't say what he needs to get a deal done, but length of the pact is likely to be a sticking point. In the prime of his career, Varitek might look for anywhere between three and five years.

"There's a few things that are very important to this getting done and we have to see how willing they are to get this done," said Varitek.

While Plan A for the Red Sox is to keep Varitek, it's hard to even find a Plan B. There's nothing close to Varitek as far as catchers go on this year's free agent market. Though Kelly Shoppach is one of the best prospects in the organization, he likely needs another year at Triple-A to improve his hitting.

Through all his years in Boston, you'd be hard-pressed to find even one pitcher who didn't have thorough respect for the way Varitek calls a game.

"It's not just with the pitching staff. It's with our entire team," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Nothing he does is average. The second day [of Spring Training] we ran a bunt defense and I went back on his field and we were there about five minutes -- because I had heard so much about him -- I thought this guy, this is what you're looking for.

"Every time he was in a drill, it was run perfect. Even rundowns, things like that, this guy is the heart and soul of our team. He never quits. He cares so much about keeping those pitchers in line, he might be the first hitter of the inning but he's over there babysitting a pitcher. This guy is everything you can ask for in a catcher."

Though Varitek typically turns individual praise away, he has come to understand what he has meant to the Red Sox.

"I understand what I do on the field, it may never come out in a statistic," said Varitek. "But I understand what I do with the pitching staff, and those things, and I've really come to grips the last couple of years with really understanding that role, I'm able to do and take off of a lot of people."

Wherever he goes, the leadership mantle will probably be his. He knows no other way to play the game. But Varitek, as much as he respects the business side of the game, is not interested in filling out a change-of-address form.

"Hopefully all goes well and we can all walk away smiling," said Varitek.
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