Today is like Christmas in early November for GMs across the land: super swell nice guy Scott Boras delivers the magical "book" he has created for each of his clients. Theo can relax: that means the Jason Varitek book will be in his hot little hands any moment now.

That also means today officially kicks off the insanity that this offseason is surely to bring - an insanity I like to call the "Varitek Conundrum".

Boras is already fueling the fire by insinuating Varitek deserves a Jorge Posada-like contract (4 years, $52 million). The key difference between them (other than Yankee front office stupidity)?

Jorge Posada's 2007 line: .338 .426 .543
Jason Varitek's 2008 line: .220 .313 .359

Posada also didn't help shore up Varitek's case by getting hurt the very next season and missing most of the year. And if Boras thinks the Red Sox, or anyone else, are going to pay Jason Varitek over $13 million a year when he's 40 years old, he is going to be severely disappointed (no matter how much he tries to make Tek into Carlton Fisk).

The facts are these: Jason Varitek has unquestionably been a pivotal key to the Red Sox success, and in particular to the success and development of the pitchers he works with. He is the captain of the team. There is not a person in baseball who speaks of his leadership and clubhouse skills with anything short of reverence, except maybe A-Rod's face after being smashed with Tek's glove. Jason Varitek also is getting old, his stats are in a steady decline since his all-star days (sharp decline, based on this year's horrific cliffdive), and his agent is going to want ridiculous money. He can barely hit at all, he certainly can't hit for power, and he's not even able to get on base with any regularity. It is logical to assume that the numbers will only decline as he nears the big 4-0.

In (my) ideal world, Tek would stay on in a kind of modified mentor role for two years while the Sox brought in a new catching prospect for Tek to tutor -- and someone who could shoulder the majority of the catching duties to give Tek more days off. Of course, since that means the payday would not be in Borastratosphere levels, I don't know if Jason will be willing to take the ego and paycheck hit.

But no matter what, the Varitek Conundrum means there's going to be a bumpy road ahead through to Fort Myers in February. Baseball is a business - and it ain't always easy.