Jason Varitek’s 14 year career with the Boston Red Sox is likely to coming down to five more games. The 38-year-old team captain knows that it’s unlikely Boston will retain him for next season.

“It’s there,” he said, according to the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham. “That’s obvious. I mean, I try not to think about it and I hope you guys don’t ask me too much about it over the weekend. But it’s there. Definitely, it’s there.”

Although Boston does not have a starting catcher set for 2011, the team is fully prepared to go into next season with Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the backup catcher. The team will need to figure out whether they are going to re-sign Victor Martinez to a long-term deal this winter.

It may not be easy for Varitek to be employed next season. Several catchers will hit the free-agent market in about a month including Yorvit Torrealba, Bengie Molina, John Buck, Miguel Olivo, David Ross, Matt Treanor and Rod Barajas. The Florida Marlins are looking for a full-time catcher, but they may try to acquire a younger backstop such as Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Napoli.

If these next five days are Varitek’s last in a Major League uniform, he’ll have accumulated more than 1476 games played, two World Series rings and $65 million in salary.