After a solid start to the 2009 season, Jason Varitek became close to an automatic out in the final weeks.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Last offseason, the drama surrounding whether Jason Varitek would return to Boston dragged on for months, and seemed vital to the success of the 2009 Red Sox. How times change. We will know by the end of the week whether Varitek will return to back up Victor Martinez, and what was then a crucial question now seems like little more than an afterthought, in an offseason where Adrian Gonzalez and Jason Bay are gobbling up the available headline space.

The Red Sox decided Monday not to pick up their $5-million team option to bring back their longtime captain. The Sox catcher has his own $3-million option, which he will likely exercise by the Friday deadline –– though the possibility exists that he could test free agency. If he does, it would be too bad for Boston.

Varitek perhaps can never be taken at face value anymore because of what he represents to the organization and the fan base: grit, character, the captaincy and the memory of what he used to be. Unfortunately, the player on display in the second half of last season only served to conjure up images of Varitek in his heyday; the enduring images from the second half of 2009 are of a tired Varitek striking out regularly and trotting back to the dugout with his head down.

But assuming that he can find a happy medium between his excellent first half and his abysmal August and September, Varitek could be a valuable piece for the Red Sox, though at high cost. As a pure backup, at $3 million, he would be one of the most overpriced –– but possibly also one of the most productive –– backups in baseball.

Assuming rosters stay as they are, and Varitek rejoins Boston, Varitek would come into 2010 as the second-highest paid backup in baseball, behind Arizona’s Chris Snyder, whom the Diamondbacks have tried to trade in the past week.

But Varitek could be a boon off the bench and every fifth day behind the plate. Most backup catchers are excellent defensively, and weak with the bat. Even at 37, Varitek would rank as one of the best offensive backups in the majors, while questions would abound about his defense, specifically his ability to prevent the stolen base.

Varitek’s .313 on-base percentage was 34th-best among catchers, his slugging percentage 31st. If he could maintain roughly that level of production, he would be among the best backups in baseball –– as most of the backups, of course, round out spots 30-60 on that list.

Anyone who watched Varitek play this year could see that he started off strong, banging home runs to both right and left in Fenway, and finished weakly. His season numbers are tricky: buoyed by a strong first half, and dragged down by a miserable final two months. He posted a strong .348 on-base percentage and .478 slugging percentage in the first half, and a wretched .157 OBP and .239 slugging in the second half. He finished with an ugly .209 average, .313 OBP, 14 home runs, 51 RBI and a .390 slugging percentage. There are some who believe that a full-time backup role would allow Varitek to avoid that precipitous second-half dropoff.

Varitek is known to handle pitchers well, and his technique behind the plate is strong, his veteran savvy important. But unlike most of the other backups around the league, Varitek can’t throw runners out. His caught-stealing percentage of 13 percent was by far the worst among catchers with more than 100 games played, and among those who played less behind the plate, only Yorvit Torrealba, Mike Redmond, and yes, Victor Martinez, were that poor.

No one in the majors allowed more stolen bases than Varitek’s 108: though some of that must be attributed to Boston’s philosophical approach that pays less attention to the stolen base than some teams, and to the slow release times of some of the Boston pitchers. The three primary Boston catchers this season (Varitek, Martinez, George Kottaras) all had caught-stealing rates between 13 percent and 16 percent, making it a good bet that the players around them are also an issue.

There are other considerations as well. Varitek’s presence blocks the Sox from bringing up one of their other young catchers and seeing whether he is ready for regular backup work. Kottaras performed well enough in a limited role as Tim Wakefield’s personal backstop this past season, though it’s not clear if he would represent an upgrade offensively or defensively. Triple-A players Dusty Brown and Mark Wagner are both considered strong defensive catchers with skills that would translate to the major leagues, but both would undergo a learning curve at the highest level and both are question marks with the bat.

And while Varitek has been a first-class citizen in adjusting to this late career change, would the Red Sox captain be able to handle second-tier status over an entire season of games?

Varitek has said all the right things from the first moment, and it is clear he respects Martinez’s skills as a catcher and a hitter. He accepted his diminished role quietly and without incident. In exercising his option, it would seem he would have prepared himself mentally for a backup’s role. But over 162 games, how will Varitek respond if his clubhouse role recedes alongside his on-field production? Or when he hasn’t played in a week?

For lesser clubs without the resources Boston has, Varitek’s question marks would make him an expensive albatross. For Boston, he is an interesting, albeit flawed, asset in a backup role. If he exercises his option, it should make the Red Sox a better team. If he doesn’t, the Red Sox will quickly move on, but he is unlikely to find as much money on the free-agent market –– and the experience of watching Varitek labor through one of his twilight seasons in another uniform is one that no Red Sox fan needs after 13 seasons of meritorious service.

dbarbari@projo.com