Posted by Matt Sisson on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 1:52 pm

The Boston Red Sox have a big decision to make involving their catching situation for the upcoming season. With just over 3 weeks till pitchers and catchers report, Boston’s window is beginning to close. Peter Gammons points out in his blog that “Varitek will be 37 in April, and only six catchers have ever caught 100 games in a season at the age of 37.”The six catching seasons in question are held by the following players:

Comparing Varitek’s age 36 season to these 6 players age 37 season, Varitek ranks last or near the bottom in nearly all major offensive categories valued by the Red Sox organization.

Looking at the season’s of that list of catchers show’s you that if the Red Sox are to sign Tek, it should strickly be in a platoon or back up roll. The numbers don’t lie and the Red Sox are too smart an orgainzation to make this type of mistake. We’ve seen the organization walk away from players like Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, and Trot Nixon in the past when they felt there was the potential for a serious decline in the players skills. Varitek’s decline has already begun and the decision appears to be an easy one to make. Boston can and will not make a mistake like relying on Varitek as it’s #1 receiver.