THEOVERPAYS BUT
TEK DEAL GETS DONE

Jason Returns for 4 Years, $40M

"He's the backbone of our team... he's our leader."
-- Just Married Johnny Damon, CBS4 call

CAPTAIN COMES BACK TO RED SOX,
BUT DIRTBAG BORA$ WINS AGAIN

Varitek returning to Red Sox

By Boston.com Staff | December 23, 2004

Jason Varitek is returning to the Red Sox in time for the holidays.

The free-agent catcher has agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract, a source directly involved in the negotiations told the Boston Globe’s Gordon Edes.

The Red Sox were expected to announce the deal on Friday.

According to the source, the 32-year-old Varitek’s demand for a no-trade clause was the singular issue that kept the sides from reaching a deal previously, but they found some way to satisfy Varitek without granting him a no-trade clause.

ESPN's Peter Gammons to BDD: "Boras told all other teams for two weeks that he would not even discuss Varitek until after Jan. 8, the last date the Sox could sign him, per request of Jason, who made it clear that he wanted to return to Boston."

What do you think about the re-signing of Jason Varitek?

To get Tek signed, Sox go through hell and high water,
and forty million dollars

Who's Been Naughty... and Who's MNice?

The internet is a buzz with chatter that Jason Varitek is on the verge of agreeing to a deal with the Red Sox. On ESPN's Sports Nation message board, a user named MNice109 posted a thread this morning that proclaimed that Varitek was a "done deal." Normally a random message board rumor is not news, but this particular poster has had an uncanny knack for posting Red Sox signing news a day in advance. On Dec. 9, s/he posted that the Sox were serious about signing David Wells and the Wells signing news did not happen until early Dec. 11. On Dec. 12, MNice109 reported that Manny was on the trading block in a Mets deal, no word in the mainstream media until Dec. 13. Now on Sunday, Dec. 12, MNice109 posted that Renteria was out of the picture, but that was the day before Pedro agreed to a deal with the Mets that freed up the money for Edgar. On Tuesday, Dec. 21 the new post said "The Sox are signing Wade Miller." The news came out first on ESPN almost 24 hours later. Now today, at 8:52am, MNice109 posted that "Tek is a done deal." No news since. Take it for what it's worth.

Newsday: Tek Re-Signing with Sox