Yes, I Was "Jim From Mass." on XM175 This Morning

Holden and Billy at about 7:40 AM were having a conversation about now-free agent Jason Varitek and Holden was talking all about that the Red Sox will cut players when they feel the player's contract demands are too, well, demanding, listing DLowe, Pedro, Nomar and Johnny Damon and then was going on about that his offensive output has dramatically declined this year & can't throw people out yada yada yada and what was his value to the club?

Well, that's why I called in - his value to the club is measurable. When he got injured in 2006, the Sox team ERA ballooned while he was out - so, I relayed that. Holden seemed to dismiss it since it wasn't in his meme of "Red Sox cut players when it suits them and they don't care", but Billy immediately said "Yes, I remember what the caller was talking about." My two minutes of fame broadcast across North America - yippee!

But as you can see, more people are thinking about this stuff besides me regarding Tek's value to the Sox...I found this article, from the NYTimes about the details of Varitek's pitching value to the Sox in 2006, and here's the paragraphs with the numbers:

Varitek’s absence has been detrimental to the entire pitching staff, but especially to the younger arms the Red Sox have injected into their pursuit of the postseason. Before Varitek was placed on the disabled list, the Red Sox were 63-41 and their pitchers had a combined earned run average of 4.65. That was one of the highest E.R.A.’s in the American League. Still, since then, the Red Sox were 6-12 with a 6.30 E.R.A. going into Sunday night’s game.

When one A.L. talent evaluator who has scouted the Yankees and the Red Sox extensively this season was asked why Boston had fizzled recently, he said: “Varitek, Varitek, Varitek. No Varitek. That’s huge for them.”

Varitek is so crucial to the Red Sox that he basically runs their scouting meetings before each series. Most teams have a coach disseminate the scouting information and review it with the pitchers and catchers, but Varitek embraces that role for Boston.

Here's a rotoworld.com forum thread that talks about Varitek refering to catcher's ERA and I took a cut from some poster's data (sorry, I can't link just to the post):

Josh Beckett [5.01 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 1-4, 6.38 ERA.
Curt Schilling [3.97 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 1-3, 5.22 ERA.
Jon Lester [4.76 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 2-1, 7.66 ERA.
Kyle Snyder [6.56 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 0-1, 8.44 ERA.
Jonathan Papelbon [0.92 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 2-1, 2.40 ERA.
Mike Timlin [4.36 ERA in 2006], August, 2006: 0-3, 7.42 ERA.
Varitek definitely influences their ERA, so i think CERA is fairly valid.

A poster named "Anna" [ED.Note - link fixed - tks Anna!] at this blog says this about 'Tek:

In fact, though, I’m keeping my hopes high that Varitek will be back in Boston. Not because of the whole ‘team captain’ thing and the leadership angle — though that’s surly a factor, however large or small — but because the team and especially the pitchers are not ready to loose him. To dispute JP here, Tek is a far, far better defensive catcher than Cash, and frankly better than most other catchers in the American League. His catcher’s ERA is the lowest in the league, a huge asset to the team. He tied Mauer for fewest passed balls, had second fewest errors, second highest fielding percentage, and highest range factor. He’s astonishingly good at blocking the plate, and as every pitcher on the staff will tell you, calls a game like no one else. They’ve come to rely on that, too. I keep remembering what happened when Varitek was injured in ‘06 and the team ERA instantly swelled. For the defense and game calling the Sox get from Tek, I’d hardly care if he couldn’t get his swing back.

So, I'm not the only one that remembers that Varitek's value to the team goes way beyond taters and ribbies and OPS+ ratings and Win Shares. And I don't count myself as a Sox fanatic - I just married one ;o)

Holden? Thoughts?