Red Sox still talking to Jason Varitek - Joe McDonald

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7355724/boston-red-sox-hope-jason-varitek-back-some-role

When the Red Sox signed Shoppach, 31, to a one-year deal worth $1.35 million earlier this week, it signaled an almost certain end to Varitek's playing career in Boston.


"Obviously we know Shop well and as we went into the offseason we felt like there were a couple of things that were important to us in regards to the catching position," Cherington said. "One was to continue to find ways to help in the running game and to help control the running game, which was an area of concern for us last year. Shop's been able to help pitching staffs control the running game and has been pretty consistent throughout his career."


Shoppach led the American League by throwing out 41 percent of attempted base-stealers. Varitek threw out just 14 percent, and Saltalamacchia threw out about 31 percent.
Shoppach also makes sense as a complement to Saltalamacchia in that he hits left-handed pitching well. Among active catchers, Shoppach's career .909 OPS against lefties is fourth-highest in the majors.