'Tek Resigns With Red Sox...Mo Rivera Back With NY...Pedey's Foot Completely Healed

Good news for Red Sox Nation was announced yesterday. The captain, Jason Varitek, will be back for another year. This is from the Globe's EXTRA BASES.

"The Red Sox have signed Jason Varitek to a one-year deal worth $2 million according to a baseball source. The deal includes $300,000 in incentives that likely would be based on how often he plays. It seems apparent now that the Red Sox are prepared to move forward with Jarrod Saltalamacchia as their regular catcher and Varitek as the backup."

'Tek will do more than play #2 catcher behind Salty. The two will work closely together between games, mentor to student. I'm happy he's back. Now Boston can fully concentrate on landing Werth, Beltre and/or Crawford.

In pin striped news, the New York Yankees, still in the middle of things with Jeter, made it official. Mariano Rivera will be back. The club will pay him $17 million for his one year deal and that's right on line with what he's worth to the club. He's amazing. An unnamed source said this...

"I think Mo will be the greatest closer in the game until he decides to quit. That's how good he is. As long as he can throw that cutter, put it where he wants to put it, he'll pitch as long as he wants to pitch. He wanted to stay loyal to the Yankees."

Good luck to him (unless he's playing the Sox.)

Dustin Pedroia got a clean bill of health from his doctors after a Cat scan revealed what we were all waiting for...his foot is 100% healed. He will resume running January 1, 2011. Here's the man himself...

“I’m real excited to start the year, because I’ve got a lot of energy built up, that’s for sure. My biggest thing this year is to make sure my foot is healthy and make sure my body is healthy and built up. I played 75 games last year, so other than my foot, my body is well-rested and ready to go. I think this year, my main focus is get my body in game-playing shape and go out there and get ready to play 162 games and be out there all year and be consistent and do the things I do to help us win.’’

Wouldn't that be nice! We love ya, Pedey. I hope every one of you has a great Friday and a terrific upcoming weekend. I'll be back if the news warrants. Until then, click on this post's title and vote for Jon Lester as the AL's best starter. When the screen appears, just click on STARTERS (or any other category). I voted for Tito, too. He had such a great season, didn't he? The link is there...just click away. As always, BE WELL. Let's be careful out there.