Principal owner John Henry of the Red Sox and free agent catcher Jason Varitek met for approximately 90 minutes recently near the team captain's Georgia home, but there still is no pending agreement between the parties.
According to reports from NESN.com, the meeting between owner and player -- held without the presence of super-agent Scott Boras or Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein -- was a chance for Boston's ultimate decision-maker to meet face-to-face with a man who has been a face of the franchise over the last decade. Varitek text-messaged the Boston Globe and said that the meeting went "OK" but that there was nothing new to report on any potential contract dealings with Boston management.
Reports from other clubs indicate Boras isn't diverting from a preference to snag a multi-year contract for a catcher who will be 37 in the spring, and the Red Sox don't seem likely to budge from a one-year deal with a sizable pay cut for the captain.
"There's still some unfinished business," Epstein said. "Jason's still out there. As I said at the beginning of the offseason, he has been a really important guy here, to this organization. By no means have we shut the door on him. There's still unfinished business there, and also in the pursuit of a younger catcher."
The Red Sox continue to stoke trade talks with both the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks for a young catcher and keep waiting for the price tag to drop on their potential prizes.
While that chase for tomorrow's catcher still hangs and waits for a response, the potential catcher of the present awaits his fate in a baseball world where no team seems willing to surrender a No. 1 draft pick for the Type A free agent.
It makes sense for Varitek and the Red Sox to once again come together for at least one more season, but nobody seems to know if it will happen.
