Jason Varitek has been a member of the Boston Red Sox organization since he was traded there as a catching prospect in 1997. Now a member of the coaching staff, that means 2026 will be his 30th season — and it appears all potential roadblocks to Year 30 have been cleared away.
Varitek and the Red Sox hadn’t come to terms on a new contract for the upcoming season, which was noteworthy because shortly after the current season ended in the wild-card round at the beginning of the month, most of the remainder of the coaching staff was confirmed to be returning.
The mystery appears to be over, though, as on Friday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that the Red Sox and Varitek were finalizing a multi-year deal that would keep him in Boston in his current position.
Varitek staying on in Boston
“Varitek’s contract as the team’s game-planning and run-prevention coach expired at the end of the season,” McAdam wrote. “There had been speculation that Varitek might receive some interest as a managerial candidate elsewhere, but it appears that there were no requests to interview him.
“It’s unknown how long the new deal is for, though one industry source speculated that it would run through the 2027 season to alignwith manager Alex Cora’s deal.”
Varitek retired after the 2011 season as a player, having served as the team’s captain from 2005 onward and won two World Series titles. He then served in an advisory role in the front office from 2012 to 2018, and after a year where he didn’t appear in the staff directory, he was first named to the coaching staff in 2020.
Red Sox starting catcher Carlos Narváez has been vocal about how much Varitek has helped his development, so no one is likely to be happier about the news of the former captain’s return.
Boston’s coaching staff appears just about set, as the only other noteworthy item was parting ways with assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal and bringing in John Soteropulos in his place.
