Gold with a little tarnish

The captain should have spoken with pride and accomplishment yesterday, the day he won his first Gold Glove and the organization's first since 1991. Instead, Jason Varitek's voice conveyed surprise and disappointment.

''I'm very upset that we're losing a guy like him," Varitek said of Theo Epstein's decision to decline a three-year, $4.5 million contract extension as Red Sox general manager. ''It's frustrating as players. We're seeing a lot of turnover, a lot of changes, a lot of people you trust leaving.

''To see that start to go is a bit frustrating. We lost one of our best coaches [third base coach Dale Sveum], one of our best trainers [Chris Correnti], now our GM, our assistant GM [Josh Byrnes]. We've got to find a way to right the ship. This has got to start from the top down."

Varitek was speaking on a conference call, arranged to tout his Gold Glove. No Sox player had won one since 1991, when Tony Pena did. Pena and Varitek join Carlton Fisk (1972) as the only catchers in Sox history to win the award. Varitek became the team's 15th Gold Glove winner and brought the organization its 35th overall. Varitek on Monday won a Silver Slugger award, voted on by managers and coaches and presented to the best offensive player at each position in each league.

And while he expressed gratitude and happiness with the awards, he sounded concerned about the club's ability to address its player needs this offseason.

''It's going to be very tough to see a guy like him go, especially at a time like this," Varitek said. ''I'm sure they had plans ready to roll to deal with this team at hand."

The Sox have to decide whether to meet Manny Ramirez's trade request. They must determine whether to re-sign Johnny Damon. Matt Mantei filed for free agency yesterday, joining Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar, Mike Myers, Tony Graffanino, and Damon as Red Sox who have filed. John Olerud and Mike Timlin have yet to file, though Timlin reportedly has agreed to a one-year extension.

''Obviously, they have great minds and have done this before," Varitek said of Sox ownership. ''Hopefully, they have a plan. Hopefully, the plan is to put out the best team.

''[Epstein's departure] leaves a lot of gray area right now. We've got to take a little step back, not too far back, [because] there's a lot of important people that need to be dealt with."

Varitek continues to wonder about the reasons behind Epstein's decision. ''I'd love to have a conversation with Theo to find that out," he said.

In due time he probably will. Epstein stood out as among the more communicative and visible of GMs when it came to the clubhouse and the players.

''There's a separation between management and players," said Varitek, whom Epstein signed to a four-year, $40 million extension last December. ''He . . . is a good communicator. That's a big part of this game. You can come out of a lot of gray area with players if you communicate. He's extremely intelligent.

''I'm very thankful I was able to come back because of him."