Jason Varitek, no.33

Birthday: April 11, 1972 in Rochester, MI

Height/Weight: 6'2", 210 lb.

College: Georgia Institute of Technology (Major: Management)

Contract: 4 years for $40 million (through 2008)

The man can't hit a lick. His Batting Average is a paltry .255. When he does get a piece of a ball, he can really loft it. He hit 17 home runs last season; a little over 15% of his hits. His home runs travelled an average of 392.5 feet. But he strikes out. A lot. Like 28% of the time. He also walks a lot. Last season he walked 71 times, which is about 16% of his total at bats. So his On Base Percentage (.367) ended up being pretty decent.

Defensively, he had 937 putouts and 39 assists, while only making 6 errors. His Fielding Percentage (.994) was slightly above the league average (.991). His Range Factor (7.81) was well above the league average (6.41) and was very similar to the Range Factor he had in 2004 (7.87) when he finished first in the league.

He seems like a quiet, serious guy; intense and fierce. He's smart, all the pitchers will tell you that, and he calls a good game. But he seems guarded and very private. It's why I like that photo. That hat is about to come down and cover his face until he can compose himself and conceal his emotions but for the split second before it does you can tell that he is genuinely happy. And Nomar. I like the picture because it has Nomar.

With absolutely no proof (and maybe just because I want it to be so), I think that just below the surface lurks a trouble-maker. He's a bad ass-I know that it's terribly cliche and, therefore, boring to call him a bad ass but would you tell Jason Varitek to "Go suck an egg"? I don't think so.

I think, barring any injury, 2008 will probably be similar to 2007 for Mr. Varitek. He has stayed healthy in the past (only going on the DL in 2001 and 2006) so here's hoping. His hitting will probably go down some. His fielding has been pretty consistent over the past 11 seasons, so that will probably be about the same.