Jason Varitek is not part of the Red Sox organization in any capacity, and Sam Kennedy finally said it plainly.
That was the clearest takeaway from Boston’s end-of-season press conference on Monday, where Kennedy was asked about the former catcher and gave a much more direct answer than the one the club offered back in April.
“We've connected with each other, but I've got no update on that ... but [we] look forward to continuing dialogue as we move forward,” Kennedy said.
The message, stripped down, was simple: Varitek is not working with the team right now, and there was no hint from Kennedy that a reunion is close.
That matters because the whole situation around Varitek became murky months ago, when the Red Sox tried to explain his status in a way that never really held up publicly. At the time of Alex Cora’s firing, there was confusion over whether Varitek had been swept up in the changes. The club described his situation as a “reassignment,” but the specifics of that move never came into focus.
Varitek’s standing only made the episode more delicate. He is a Red Sox legend, a fan favorite, and someone who spent his entire playing career in Boston. So when the story started to look like he had been pushed out, the optics were always going to be rough.
That’s part of why Kennedy’s comments on Monday felt like an effort to finally close the book on the version of the story that lingered for five months. He didn’t dodge the question this time. He acknowledged the conversation, said the sides have connected, and made clear that Varitek is not with the organization.
There was also a broader coaching context to all of this. Chad Tracy said on Monday that he will be talking with Boston’s leadership about possible coaching changes in the coming days. But if Varitek was ever going to come back into the picture, Kennedy’s remarks shut that door for now.
The Red Sox clearly understand what Varitek means to their fanbase. It also seems possible that the organization wanted to keep him around. But with his ties to Cora and the way the situation unfolded, it became too tangled to smooth over.
So while Boston may still be weighing changes on the coaching staff, Varitek won’t be part of that discussion.
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