David Ortiz plans to accept Boston's arbitration offer and remain with the Red Sox, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. In that case, Ortiz would be in line for a one-year deal with a slight raise on last year's $12.5MM salary.
Considering there didn't seem to be many suitors for Ortiz on the open market and the reported two-year deal on the table from the Red Sox would have paid just $9MM annually, the decision makes sense. However, there is still time for the two sides to work out a multiyear deal, and ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter link) expects them to continue talking. WEEI's Rob Bradford hears that Ortiz's reps and the Red Sox plan to meet tonight before any decision is made on arbitration.
The 36-year-old is coming off a strong 2011 campaign in which he hit .309/.398/.554 in 605 plate appearances.
I thought he was going to go to Minnesota
I thought he was going to go to Minnesota
Wow. $$$
….ESPN just said he accepted the 2/18 deal that was offered…
source please
ESPN LOL
a link???? all i c is ARBITRATION acceptence, nopthing about a 2 yr deal
even the arb acceptance bit is sketchy, with rojas citing an anonymous source and other reports unable to confirm
about time
Now that that is over can we move on with the off-season?
Dude realized that if there is no market for Prince Fielder, there was as hell was no market for him.
NOOOO!!!!!!! Cherington’s first mistake of his tenure as GM, but I do like this better than a 3 year deal.
He realized that no team would give him over 10 mil a year on a multi year deal so he did the smart thing.
Big win for Boston
Tomorrows headline: Ortiz unhappy with current situation, still seeks multi year contract
it is all your fault for not putting in enough good words with the rest of the Jays fans so AA would have offered him any kind of a multi year contract u know 🙁
unfortunately (fortunately) my words carry no weight with the headoffice.
one day my friend, one day
BNS said farrell is a confirmed mlbtr reader for whatever that means
so all those times he left in Dotel vs Lefties was out of spite?
can you tell me why ?
Well… This stinks. Hopes of redirecting $$ to areas of real need are dashed.
It’s official. I lost the free agent predictions.
I think this was the first one I got right
I think I had him going to Toronto. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
now its time to make a trade….do what you gotta do….
Good move by both sides. Ortiz will prob get $14m salary and Red Sox get benefit of it being a 1 year deal. I was hoping someone would sign him away and the Red Sox would use the money elsewhere but this works too.
Pretty much exactly what you said. If Ortiz is going to come back, this is the most preferable scenario.
Paying $14 million +, which is about $7 million over his market price isn’t a good move for the Red Sox.
There’s really little use arguing this point any longer. I’m just satisfied that one Red Sox fan on here has acknowledged this as well.
Maine Sox presents it as an “if” That “if” only happens at the hand of the front office. They shouldn’t have offered arb to begin with. The Red Sox made the choice for him. That’s the point.
It was a risk worth taking though; at best you get two high draft picks, at worst you have to pay $14-16M for one year for a guy who put up over 4.0 WAR as a DH last year.
Ortiz had a great year with a .954 OPS. Why would they NOT want him back? And as others have said, having him back on a 1 year deal was the best case scenario. YES, the Sox are up against the cap, but even so, $$$$ should be the last thing on their mind when it comes to what the expectations are vs where they have finished over the last 2 years.
Their 3b prospect isn’t ready to unseat Youk (thus moving him to DH) and Beltran is going to be very expensive in years and $$$$.
If the Sox had NOT offered him arbitration then he simply wouldn’t be a Sox player in 2012 because SOME team would’ve offered him a 2 year deal, maybe not for $14 mil but I could see a AL team offering 2/$20 if they didn’t have to cough up a draft pick.
It’s not optimal, but it’s the best case scenario short of gaining draft picks because he signed somewhere else. The money isn’t as big of a deal as having to guarantee him multiple years would have been.
it is a less-desirable outcome than replacing him with someone like beltran and collecting draft picks
having said that, a one-year deal for a guy who hit as well as adrian gonzalez last year is hardly a problem. he’s failed to be worth ~$14M only once in his career – and that was 3 years ago
Get on the plane now, Ben. Beat the rush. The offseason is over. Scott Atchison will be our closer.
Smart move. But he’ll probably end up taking a 2-year, $22M deal so Boston can save a few simoleons.
Smart for Papi, not so smart for the BoSox. He’s not even worth 10M. He’s going to drop off eventually and it could be this year.
In which case you don’t sign him next year. That’s the beauty of going year to year. As long as he produces like he has pretty much every year he has been in Boston, it would be foolish to let him go.
In which case you don’t sign him next year. That’s the beauty of going year to year. As long as he produces like he has pretty much every year he has been in Boston, it would be foolish to let him go.
I love Papi, but honestly I was hoping for the draft picks/salary flexibility.
good job Ortiz, I think I nailed one more in predictions.
we gotta make a trade somewhere….
Looking at $15mm-$16mm spent, combined for Miller and Ortiz, in the last two days. So…?
Miller’s deal isn’t guaranteed and arbitration never is, so either player could be cut at no expense to the Sox. Plus, while it’s not as ideal as if Ortiz were to accept a deal somewhere else so they gain draft picks, it’s better than guaranteeing him multiple years.
As a Sox fan, fine. I’d like to see Willingham come on board and trade Ellsbury for a SP. Then we need to put together a bullpen…
Trade Ells… really??? Are you a Yankee fan?
Read first four words 🙂
I’m just realistic. We won’t sign him long term and there’s NO WAY he keeps that production up. Now is the time – If we can get a great upper tier (not elite) starter, I’d do it in a second.
Justin was RIGHT!!! You have to be a Yankee fan.
Actually, as scary of a thought that is, I’m afraid you’re may be right. Ellsbury will likely fall a bit, and his value may never be as high. But on the other hand, I would be disgruntle if we traded him and he turns out to be a perennial all star playing at the level he played this year.
Phew, glad I’m not the one making these tough calls.
Exactly my point. I think the kicker really is that we just won’t sign him long term. That sort of (in my opinion) makes you want to take that chance. He might keep this up, but I wouldnt bet on it.
If you can get a top end pitcher you can control (even if you need to eat a little money), I would do it. It sucks, but you have to start thinking about life after Ells.
Actually, as scary of a thought that is, I’m afraid you’re may be right. Ellsbury will likely fall a bit, and his value may never be as high. But on the other hand, I would be disgruntle if we traded him and he turns out to be a perennial all star playing at the level he played this year.
Phew, glad I’m not the one making these tough calls.
I thought Ortiz had multiple offers in hand.
“Accept arbitration or 2 years for $18 million.”
Two opposing offers from the same club counts as multiple offers, right?
I cant wait for the red sox to go over the cap. they need a RF and a closer still.
I have to say I’d actually be a little surprised if they don’t. They have way too much invested in this team not to do what it takes to win, especially after back-to-back 3rd place seasons.
Earlier on MLB Network Peter Gammons was saying if Boston choses not to go over the luxary tax again for the third year in a row and Ortiz accepts arbitration, they’ll have about 10-15M to fill a bunch of needs. WTF -_-. I hope that’s not true. I want Ortiz back, but at what cost? They have other needs that NEED to be dealt with.
I believe it’s actually around $6-7 million to spend if he accepted arbitration.
It depends on how much guys get in arbitration, which is anyone’s best guess at this point.
The most intriguing one being Ellsbury…
The most intriguing one being Ellsbury…
I’m told Ortiz has not decided for sure on anything beyond wanting to stay with #RedSox – Peter Abraham just now
No one wanted the 36-year old Big Steroid DH?
Stunner
If all that the Red Sox offered is 2/$18 its a no-brainer for Ortiz to accept Arbitration. He will get a minimum of $15 million in arbitration and likely $16 million, just 2-3 million less for 1 year than Red Sox are offering for 2 years.
If the Red Sox are now making insulting offers like that to their key players after all the low-brow moves they made afrer the season its a certainty that the Cubs will make the WS before the Red Sox do it again.
What are you talking about? Obviously no one offered him anything better than the 2/18 that you say is so insulting or he would have accepted it. And if he were so insulted why would he have accepted arb, only to end up back on the team that “insulted” him?
I wouldn’t consider David Ortiz key anymore. The key players on this team are Pedroia, Ellsbury, Gonzalez, Lester, Bard, Buchholz, Beckett (whether you like him or not) & Crawford (since the team is stuck with him). I’d consider Youkilis a key player over Ortiz as well.
Ortiz is a DH. He can’t run the bases. He can’t play the field. He doesn’t hustle. He doesn’t run through first base. He whines to the media. He publicly questioned his manager. He interrupted a press conference to whine about an RBI.
The market dictates what players get. It wasn’t a low-blow offer because it was what the market dictated. The Red Sox just screwed themselves by offering arbitration which they shouldn’t have done in the first place.
I still don’t understand the idea that they shouldn’t have offered Ortiz arbitration. Worst case scenario they end up paying $14-16M for a guy who hit as well as anyone on the team last year, and it’s the only way they get him on a one year deal.
If all that the Red Sox offered is 2/$18 its a no-brainer for Ortiz to accept Arbitration. He will get a minimum of $15 million in arbitration and likely $16 million, just 2-3 million less for 1 year than Red Sox are offering for 2 years.
If the Red Sox are now making insulting offers like that to their key players after all the low-brow moves they made afrer the season its a certainty that the Cubs will make the WS before the Red Sox do it again.
I feel bad for him.
He really wanted multiyear deal and really wanted to play for Boston but Boston has been jerking him around with 2/18 offer. Seriosuly, he will likely get 15MM from arbitration anyways, that offer is quite insulting.
2/18 is a fair offer for an aging, one dimensional, DH and it is obviously the best offer he got, or he would have ended up with someone else. The only reason it might not make sense for him to take it is because of how much he’ll likely make in arbitration.
Offering a player arbitration when you know that he will make $14 million plus and he might not get a 2 year offer from another team that matches that total is far from insulting. The Red Sox knew they were going to be overpaying Papi in order to keep it a one year deal. Papi knows the Red Sox are overpaying him in order to keep it a one year deal. Where’s the insult?
They called him fat
It was Heyman that reported that. Everyone else reports the term “husky” was used
It was Heyman that reported that. Everyone else reports the term “husky” was used
Offering a player arbitration when you know that he will make $14 million plus and he might not get a 2 year offer from another team that matches that total is far from insulting. The Red Sox knew they were going to be overpaying Papi in order to keep it a one year deal. Papi knows the Red Sox are overpaying him in order to keep it a one year deal. Where’s the insult?
They’re not jerking him around. If there was a significantly better offer on the table, he’d be gone. So clearly no team values him as much as he values himself. 2/18 seems very fair for a player like him, but the Red Sox are willing to overpay him to limit the years, and Ortiz also seems to be willing to take a 1 year deal to make the most money.
They’re not jerking him around. If there was a significantly better offer on the table, he’d be gone. So clearly no team values him as much as he values himself. 2/18 seems very fair for a player like him, but the Red Sox are willing to overpay him to limit the years, and Ortiz also seems to be willing to take a 1 year deal to make the most money.
Ideally, I was hoping Ortiz would sign elsewhere and we’d pick up draft picks. But I’m fine with this as well. Ortiz back for another year…worst case scenario is that he sucks and we’ve wasted $15 million. The good thing is that we didn’t give him a multi-year deal. 2 years would’ve been passably acceptable, 3 years would just be…speechless.