Varitek or Martinez?

The recent addition of Catcher Victor Martinez has created quite a dilemma for Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, who will have to find At-Bats at four positions for five players: Martinez, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, and David Ortiz. Martinez is a good Catcher, though not an everyday Catcher, and a much better hitter than Varitek at this point in his career. When he's not Catching, Martinez can play First Base, which would move Youkilis to Third Base, and either Lowell or Ortiz to the bench; and when Martinez catches, Varitek would move to the bench. The big debate in Red Sox Nation is who should catch aces Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, who have an admitted comfort level pitching to Varitek.

In a five game stretch, the Red Sox could play Varitek in the Beckett and Lester games and sit him for the other three games. Martinez could then catch the other three games and play two games at First Base. Youkilis could play First Base three times and Third Base twice. Lowell could play Third Base three times and DH once, with one game on the bench. Ortiz could then DH four times with one game on the bench. In this ideal situation, Martinez and Youkilis would play every game while Varitek would play two of five, Lowell four of five, and Ortiz four of five.

Jason Varitek is a good Catcher, and probably still better defensively than Martinez. He has done a terrific job of helping the pitching staff achieve success over his 12 seasons with the Red Sox, including catching three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. However when comparing Varitek's numbers while catching the team's best pitchers to other Catchers shows that in most cases Varitek is only marginally better:

Pedro Martinez with Varitek: .207 Avg, .261 OBP, .316 Slg
Pedro Martinez with Scott Hatteberg: .204/.263/.313
Derek Lowe with Varitek: .252/.312/.363
Derek Lowe with Hatteberg: .256/.319/.359
Tim Wakefield with Varitek: .259/.339/.440
Tim Wakefield with Hatteberg: .245/.325/.410
Tim Wakefield with Doug Mirabelli: .246/.312/.405
Curt Schilling with Varitek: .268/.298/.435
Curt Schilling with Mirabelli: .294/.320/.495
Josh Beckett with Varitek: .239/.289/.390
Josh Beckett with Mirabelli: .235/.306/.400
*Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsusaka have pitched exclusively to Varitek

Josh Beckett is an interesting case study for this argument. Most fans suggest that because he is a successful Major League Pitcher who makes alot of money, then it should not matter who catches him. The numbers say it did not matter early in his career, but does matter to Beckett now. While a member of the Florida Marlins, he posted his best numbers with journeymen Catchers Ramon Castro (.230/.289/.366) and Matt Treanor (.195/.272/.303), not with everyday Catchers Paul LoDuca (.242/.313/.383) and Ivan Rodriguez (.246/.315/.349), possibly the best Catcher in Baseball history. With the Red Sox, Beckett has been caught by six players including Varitek 100 times and Mirabelli eight times. Beckett's numbers with the other four Catchers:

Josh Beckett with Javy Lopez three times: .271/.386/.443
Josh Beckett with George Kottaras three times: .400/.441/.618
Josh Beckett with Ken Huckaby two times: .367/.387/.700
Josh Beckett with Victor Martinez one time: .375/.385/.917

Victor Martinez was an All-Star Catcher for the Cleveland Indians. He caught one Cy Young Award winner, C.C. Sabathia in 2007 (Kelly Shoppach caught Cliff Lee in 2008), as well as three other successful pitchers. However when comparing Martinez to others who caught for the Indians, his numbers are better with some and worse with others:

C.C. Sabathia with Martinez: .255/.305/.391
C.C. Sabathia with Einar Diaz: .248/.337/.375
Jake Westbrook with Martinez: .268/.320/.389
Jake Westbrook with Diaz: .299/.352/.462
Cliff Lee with Martinez: .271/.330/.450
Cliff Lee with Kelly Shoppach: .259/.299/.360
Fausto Carmona with Martinez: .262/.338/.379
Fausto Carmona with Shoppach: .311/.426/.491

These comparisons prove that Pitchers can have better performances with certain Catchers that they feel more comfortable with. If Beckett (and Lester) wants Varitek as his personal Catcher, and he has proven more successful with him, then Francona has an easy decision to make.