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The Red Sox made a flurry of contract decisions on Monday as they hurtle headlong into the Hot Stove season. Boston picked up its 2010 option on Victor Martinez, and declined options on longtime catcher and captain Jason Varitek and knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, renegotiating a two-year extension with Wakefield at a low average annual value.There's little surprise about Martinez or Varitek.
The former, a catcher/first baseman who will make $7 million next year, was acquired at great cost in talent from the Indians at the trading deadline this year, and he excelled in the Boston pressure cooker, hitting .336 with 41 RBI in 56 games. The latter, a New England fixture and the heart and soul of two championship teams, has seen his production dip over the last few seasons.
The Red Sox declined a $5 million team option on Varitek, but he can still return in 2010 if he picks up his $3 million player option, and there are indications that he will.
The Wakefield decision is a mild surprise. The right-hander, who is the longest-tenured Red Sox player having been with the club since 1995, agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal in 2006 with recurring club options. Because Wakefield has been durable and essentially league-average during his time with Boston, the deal was seen as extraordinarily team-friendly at the time.
But Wakefield has run into injury problems the last two seasons, so the Red Sox worked out the extension reportedly at a lower base salary ($5 million over the next two seasons), with incentives based on starts and innings pitched.Wakefield, 43, could probably pitch into his late 40s because he throws almost exclusively the knuckleball, but you have to wonder if he'll call it a career when this latest contract runs out.
Wakefield told the Boston Globe that he's "done after two more."
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