Jason Varitek, the $10-million catcher with the .218 batting average, will get a $50,000 bonus for making the A.L. All-Star team.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

In the wonderful world of Manny Being Money –– oops, bit of a slip there; I meant to say Manny Being Manny –– the sensational Senor Ramirez will receive a $75,000 bonus from the Red Sox for playing in tonight’s All-Star game in Yankee Stadium.

J.D. Drew, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Kevin Youkilis will get $50,000 apiece. Jonathan Papelbon will get $25,000. Dustin Pedroia, last season’s American League Rookie of the Year, will get nothing.

To my way of thinking, if anyone ought to get a bonus for making the All-Star team, it ought to be Pedroia.

The key word here is “bonus.”

Manny is making $18,929,923 this season. For that kind of money, shouldn’t he be expected to make the All-Star team? Shouldn’t that be part of the package, part of the deal? Isn’t that why Manny gets nearly $19 a million a year –– to play at an All-Star level? Does he really deserve another 75 grand for doing what he’s already being paid royally to do?

The same holds true for Drew, who’s Boston’s second- highest-paid player, with a 2008 salary of $14 million. He’s having an excellent year –– batting .302, with 17 homers and 55 runs batted in –– and has helped tremendously in picking up the offensive slack in the absence of power-hitting David Ortiz, who’s been sidelined with a wrist injury since May 31.

But, again, isn’t that why he’s getting the $14 million?

Ortiz is on the books for $13 million –– not bad for a guy who seldom plays in the field, although he’s certainly earned his salary with his bat over the years, as well as by being a team leader in the clubhouse.

Varitek, who was voted to the All-Star team by his fellow players over Chicago’s unpopular A.J. Pierzynski, is getting paid $10,442,030 in what so far has been a miserable year offensively. He’s been in a horrendous slump since late May, and is batting only .218 this season, with just one home run since May 21. On the plus side, his ability to handle the pitching staff, the way he prepares himself to call the game, have been invaluable to the Sox.

Still, he’s fortunate to be on the team in the midst of what isn’t remotely close to an All-Star season at the plate, and, considering his eight-figure salary, a bonus of $50,000 hardly seems necessary.

That brings us to Youkilis, Papelbon and Pedroia.

Considering that this is “Youk’s” first All-Star selection, and that he’s batting .314 with 15 homers and a team-leading 63 RBI, as well as playing nearly flawlessly in the field, I say he deserves his bonus, even though he’s making $3 million.

Papelbon, arguably the best closer in baseball, is earning –– in every sense of the word –– every penny of his $775,000 this season, so there’s no begrudging him the extra $25,000 he’s getting for being in the A.L. bullpen tonight.

As for the scrappy Pedroia, well, if anyone deserves a bonus for making the All-Star team, it’s this kid.

It was a huge surprise when he wound as Rookie of the Year during the 2007 championship season, and he’s been even better this year. He’s tied with Youkilis for the team lead in batting, with a .314 average, and also tops the club by a wide margin in hits (124 to Youkilis’ 121), game played (95 of 96) and at-bats (395). He has a team-high 28 doubles, 9 homers, and 47 RBI, and is a fine defensive second baseman, as well.

If what he’s done for the Red Sox hasn’t been a “bonus,” then I don’t know what is.

Yet, because it isn’t written into his contract, he’ll receive nothing extra in his $457,000 per year paycheck for going to his first All-Star game.

I blame the system, not the players. As absurd as I think it is that Manny, Drew, Big Papi, and Varitek receive a bonus for doing what they’re already well-paid to do, it’s not their fault –– and is to their agents’ credit –– that they’re getting extra bucks for tonight’s game.

It seems silly to me that the Red Sox –– and every other team in baseball –– buys into it, but they apparently chalk it up as part of the cost of doing business in today’s out of sight, as well as out of touch with reality, mega-salary era.

Yes, Pedroia eventually will “get his” when he becomes a free agent. That’s the way the system works –– if, that is, “works” really is the right word. Undoubtedly, he’ll get an All-Star bonus clause written into his contract, too.

At which point, I guess I’ll be writing about the next young kid whose All Star-caliber performance really is a “bonus,” while veterans who already are being paid like All-Stars collect extra money for doing their job at the level that’s expected of them.

jdonalds@projo.com