Sox re-sign Varitek, name him captain

Page 3 of 3 -- The compromise offered by Boras led to a change in club policy, according to sources. A player cannot be traded without his consent if he reaches eight years of uninterrupted major league service, all with the Sox. Varitek should reach that threshold in September.

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"Say what you will about Scott," said Barry Axelrod, agent for new Sox pitcher Clement, "but you can never challenge the fact that he's bright, creative, and he gets things done."

By granting Varitek no-trade protection after eight seasons, the Sox are giving him the no-trade provision two years before he would have received it under baseball's "10-5 rule." Under that rule, a player with at least 10 years' service in the major leagues, and five consecutive years with the same club, cannot be traded without his permission.

Only three catchers in Sox history -- Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, Sammy White, and Worcester's Rich Gedman -- have caught more games than Varitek, who has been behind the plate in 788 of his 832 games in a Sox uniform. Last season, he batted a career-best .296, 23 percentage points better than his previous best, with 18 home runs and 73 RBIs. In on-base percentage, a statistic highly valued by the Sox, Varitek ranked 10th in the American League at .390.

The Sox have been negotiating a contract with Varitek since spring training, but after the season, when Varitek filed for free agency, the sides appeared far apart. The Sox were offering a three-year, $24 million deal, while Boras had set the bar at five years, $55 million, plus the demand of no-trade protection.

"I know what's important and that is that I have to know my family is taken into consideration," Varitek said in explaining his insistence on a no-trade clause. "And this is not going to be just my decision. This is going to be my entire family's decision -- that we'll be able to know that we'll be able to stay in one place."

But with no other team surfacing as a serious bidder for Varitek's services, and both sides stating their desire to reach an agreement, progress was made, even though time drew short when Varitek on Sunday declined the club's offer of salary arbitration, giving the team only until Jan. 8 to reach a deal or lose the right to negotiate with him until May 1.

Varitek dropped his demand for a fifth year and came down in price, while the Sox added a year to their offer and gave no-trade protection.

"We don't want to build a team without Jason," Epstein said earlier this month, citing the importance of Varitek's leadership as well as his on-field performance.

Varitek, who was paid $6.9 million last season, now ranks among the elite, salarywise, at his position. Mike Piazza of the New York Mets is scheduled to be paid $15 million in the last year of a seven-year, $91 million deal. Jason Kendall, traded this month from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Oakland A's, is in the fourth year of a six-year, $60 million deal. Jorge Posada of the Yankees is entering the fourth year of the five-year, $51 million deal he signed before the 2002 season. If Posada catches 330 games between 2004 and '06, he will automatically trigger a $12 million option for the 2007 season. Another Boras client, Ivan Rodriguez, signed a four-year, $40 million deal last season with the Detroit Tigers, but only the first two years are guaranteed.

Varitek, who turns 33 April 11, will be 38 by the end of his new deal. Historically, catchers have declined in offensive production in their 30s, but Boras generated a detailed analysis that argued persuasively that Varitek's career path mirrors that of the exceptions, like Fisk, who at age 37 in 1985 posted career bests of 37 home runs and 107 RBIs for the White Sox.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.