Red Sox GM Theo Epstein plans to be a "selective shopper" during this free-agent season, which officially begins Friday. "We'll assess all of the players who are free agents and try to assign a value to them and pursue them and see if they fit," said Epstein. "Often times, those players get priced out of their value point for us, but we'll see if there's any that make sense." Boston will need to make a decision on free agent catcher Jason Varitek. "He's an important part of the organization -- there's no doubt about that," Epstein recently said of Varitek. "Obviously, he's coming off a year that wasn't his best, but he's important nonetheless. Now he's a free agent, and we'll be talking to him. We have an obligation to explore all our options. We do that with every position."