The Red Sox and Jason Varitek are in the final stages of a new multi-year contract for the 53-year-old to return to the team’s coaching staff, MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam reports. The official announcement “is expected soon,” McAdam writes, and chances are the two sides may just be waiting until either the end of the World Series or until an off-day. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that Varitek has agreed to a new deal.
Varitek has been part of Boston’s coaching staff in each of the last five seasons, all as a game-planning coordinator. He was also a catching coach from 2021-24, but his job title was switched to game-planning and run prevention coach prior to this season. It isn’t known if he’ll return to that job or if Varitek might have some different responsibilities in 2026, but whatever the capacity, he’ll be back as a trusted member of Alex Cora’s staff.
Most coaches generally operate on year-to-year contracts, but Varitek’s previous deal was a three-year pact covering the 2023-25 seasons. McAdam speculates that Varitek’s forthcoming contract could be a two-year deal, in order to line Varitek up with Cora (whose contract is up after the 2027 campaign).
Acquired from the Mariners in a trade at the 1997 deadline, Varitek spent his entire 15-season playing career in a Red Sox uniform, and he has remained with the organization since he retired from on-field action. He worked as a special assistant within the front office before also taking on a roving catching instructor role in 2020, prior to his formal designation as part of the big league coaching staff in 2021.