Boston Red Sox coaching staff member and former player Jason Varitek has been rumored to be leaving, but his wife confirmed that he’s not.
Jason Varitek is no stranger to the Boston Red Sox community. He joined the team in 1997 as a player and stayed with Boston until his retirement in 2011. He’s now a part of the coaching staff, but he was rumored to have been leaving recently.
His wife seemed to hint at his departure through cryptic Tweets, but now she’s confirmed that he’s not going anywhere, at least not for the next three years.
After a tough season where Sox fans quickly learned that nothing is guaranteed, Varitek leaving would just throw more salt on the very open wound.
In 2022, fans had to say goodbye to a shot at the World Series, a higher-than-last place finish in the AL East, Dennis Eckersley in the broadcast booth, probably Xander Bogaerts and quite possibly Rafael Devers on the team, just to name a few.
Varitek is a beloved player who was a direct part of the iconic team of the 2000s with David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez. The team is now reverting to what the early 2000s team worked so hard to come up from. They went from hardly making the playoffs to winning the most World Series of the 2000s. Keeping Varitek at least remains a source of hope in this tough time.
Jason Varitek could give the current Red Sox team hope
Varitek wouldn’t be able to single-handedly fix every single issue in Boston. There are, at this point, way too many of them. However, he would surely be a step forward in solving them.
Many people want to see Varitek become manager after being team captain from 2005 until 2011. Nobody has officially become team captain since his retirement, as he’s still a leader through and through. He played for the Red Sox when they were at their lowest, and he played when they were at their best. He knows from first-hand experience what it takes to create a first-place team from scratch.
The team needs all the help it can get right now. In the midst of a lot of bad news, Varitek luckily has been a slight shred of hope.