It’s hard to believe that Jorge Posada and Jason were once considered to be in a similar class. But through most of the early-to-mid 2000s, the two players were often lumped together as star catchers for teams that were in contention every year.
However, looking at each guy’s final line, they ended up worlds apart.
Through 2005, Jason Varitek had the following line:
105 OPS+ over 3624 PAs, with 20 HR and 82 HR per 162 games played.
Through 2005, Jorge Posada had the following lineL:
121 OPS+ over 4545 PAs, with 25 HR and 96 RBI per 162 games played.
Those numbers are similar enough that you could convince yourself that the guys were fairly similar players, with Posada having a marginal edge.
By the time both guys retired this off-season, though, the gap grew quite a bit.
From 2006 to 2011, Varitek looked like this:
87 OPS+ over 2215 PAs, with 21 HR and 76 RBI per 162 games played.
From 2006 to 2011, Posada looked like this:
122 OPS+ over 2605 PAs, with 24 HR and 92 RBI per 162 games played.
Basically, Posada’s production was the same for both segments of his career, while Varitek fell off quite considerably.
In the end, Varitek finished with a career 98 OPS+ and Posada with a 121. The players with similar PAs and OPS+ to Posada are Vic Wertz, Lou Boudreau, and Augie Galan. For Varitek, it’s Ed Kranepool, Billy Werber, and Carlos Baerga.
