Will he or won't he? Varitek's deadline has come and gone...

The Red Sox did the right thing last week, when they gave Jason Varitek a deadline of 8:30 AM this morning to accept their last and final offer to the disgruntled 36 year-old backstop. 

The Jason Varitek saga has gone on long enough, and the team needs to know one way or the other what their options are at Catcher this season. 

Varitek (and his agent Scott Boras) got greedy and declined arbitration that would have paid Jason at least the $10M he made in 2008, even though the market for Varitek was almost non-existent. With no other competing offers on the table, the Sox made the offer they feel is fair considering Jason's drastically declining production: One year at $5 million guaranteed, plus an option for 2010 that could either be picked by the team for $5 million or by Varitek for $3 million.

It's now after 1 PM EST, so why haven't we heard about his decision? There is no news anywhere. While the world awaits Tek's decision, allow me to put in my 2 cents:

If Varitek walks away from the Red Sox offer, we move on. Varitek has been a great player, a leader in the clubhouse ("the captain"), and a model citizen and pitchers claim that he calls an incredible game. Losing him would mean that someone else needs to step up in the clubhouse, and our pitchers and pitching coach will need to do a little more homework to know what to throw to which hitter and in which situation. But these changes were coming anyway. Jason wasn't going to be here much longer no matter how you slice it. The club has been actively seeking a young catcher to replace Varitek for a couple of years now. What's more, Varitek's skills had been on an steep decline. He batted a pathetic .220 last season, and it looked like he was completely overmatched. It may be humbling to accept a paycut from $10M to $5M, but when you consider the declining skills and the decimated economy, $5M is probably more than he's worth. This front office has shown a refusal to become attached to players, especially old, declining players. Making an exception for Varitek would be a mistake. 

If he accepts the offer and comes back to the Sox, I'm okay with that. Theo and the boys will have won a long, drawn out contest to see who would blink first. Perhaps more importantly, they will have called Boras' bluff and beat him at his own game. Next time the Red Sox get into a contract negotiation with a Boras client, maybe he will think twice before walking away from guaranteed money. My hope for Varitek would be that he would stay healthy, experience a rebound to near his .263 career average, and act as a mentor for whatever young catchers the Sox use to keep Jason fresh throughout the year.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's a win-win for the Sox. I just can't wait until this soap opera is over. Stay tuned...