There has been a lot of attention paid to Red Sox slugger David Ortiz lately, mostly because he's off to a slow start for the second straight year. However, Ortiz is focused on future, telling WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he wants to play "Two or three more years and then I’ll take it to the house.”
Ortiz mentioned that he lost 20 pounds over the winter by changing his diet, though he's still hitting just .160/.236/.320 through his first 55 plate appearances. He started last season slow as well, but rebounded in the second half to finish the year with a respectable .238/.332/.462 batting line with 28 homers.
Big Papi is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, during which he'll earn $12.5MM. The team holds an option for next season at the same salary with no buyout, and it's hard to see them exercising that even if his performance recovers similar to last year.
Since when is .238/.332/.462 a respectable batting line?! A designated hitters only job is to hit the ball and an OPS under .800 isn’t too sexy.
haha, I was about to say the exact same thing. On a high profile team, that is far from respectable..
totally agree.. I almost fell off my chair when I read that line, “respectable batting line”
Maybe 20 years ago you could get away with guys batting around .240.. now you wont see anyone hold a major league job with a .238/332/462 line..
I’ve been saying this to all my friends – Ortiz wont have a job next year.. no way he is signed.. how can he be??? he cant play the field, he cant run, and right now hes barely a solid bench option.. he is only going to get worse.. he was good for 3 years.. go home to the dominican and enjoy the rest of your life.. your toast.
Forget it. I also noticed something. Isn’t the DH supposed to contribute something, anything to his team? I mean, wow, way to take advantage of your extra hitter by putting Papi in there!
Ya THE DESIGNATED HITTER is being pinched hit for.. isnt that almost like saying fish can live out of water? its totally against everything.
I know crazy comparison.. i couldn’t think of another one.
Respectable compared to .160/.236/.320.
That’s even better than what Andruw Jones posted for the Dodgers.
2 or 3 more years? Not gonna happen if you continue like this.
Maybe Beane could sign him when he becomes a free agent and work his magic. But he’s gonna need all his best spells and power to clean up this mess…
Yeah…no. Maybe for the Royals or something. Face it, you’re done.
I like David Ortiz a lot, and he has been one of my favorite players to watch over the last 5 years. But let’s be realistic here. After the last couple of years, I don’t see how anybody could sign him as their full time DH and feel confident. If he is playing in 2 or 3 years, he’d have to do it as a Matt Stairs type, which is harder than it looks. Otherwise in 2 years he’ll be playing against Rickey Henderson in the independent leagues.
But either way, I wish him well. And I do hope he plays for a couple more years. He’s one walkoff homer away from being tied with Mantle for most all time. One or two years could make him the career leader.
as a sox fan i never thought the day would come i would cringe with david ortiz coming to the plate in a bases loaded situation or any situation now at this point, but i am there. he has had his fair chance, its not working, give lowell a chance and make it work. i love ortiz, he is a great guy and had 5 beyond epic years for boston, but he is killing us now and its starting to get very very ugly for the team, thank god its early enough to find another gear and get going
Hi Ortiz, have you met Gary Sheffield or Jermain Dye?
I think it hinges on whether ortiz can recreate his second half from last year where he was one of the best hitters for that time span. Hard to remember he hit over 20 HRs and hit for a respectable average. It was looking like they had the Ortiz of old
Ignoring the fact that teams would probably like a player which hits well for the whole year. Ortiz hit .258/.350/.516 after the all star break last year for an OPS of .866 with 16 HRS. Good numbers but not even close to what an elite hitter in a hitters park which does not play defense should be giving you. His OPS away from Fenway has averaged about .740 the last few years. A player which is clearly in decline at the position which is the easiest to replace in baseball will not be on an elite team in a few years if in the league at all.
.694 OPS is bad. .794 is okay (respectable) but not what you really want from your DH. .894 is good. .994 is great. 1.094 is epic.. Anyway, take away Ortiz slow start last year and he was well above .794 the rest of the year. He’ll need to do that again this year and perhaps more if he really wants to play 2-3 more years, at least with the Sox. I think it’s pretty obvious that his bat has slowed down so it’s going to be tough for him to crank it up again later this year. Doubt the Sox are going to bring him back, at least not at that salary and as a full time player. If he’ll accept a reduced role and salary then maybe. More likely he ends up somewhere like Oakland or KC like mentioned earlier. If he really does want to play a few more years then he’ll take what those teams will pay him. If he wants to play 2-3 more years in Boston he’ll have to swallow his pride and prove he can still be productive. I’m guessing he plays next year somewhere else, proves that he’s slowed way down and then takes it to the house after the 2011 season.
People assume that just b/c he struggled last year, that he will bounce back
There is no guarantee that he will this year and in the future
people assume he will bounce back because he did in a big way last year after struggling. He certainly showed he had some left in the tank at the end of last season and got in shape for this season. It hasn’t amounted into results yet but it is reason to remain optimistic.
These veterans like Ortiz should sue the media for misrepresentation and slander. A guy like Jason Heyward is batting .230 but because he is a young guy who has gotten a few home runs early on he is getting the superstar label.
that’s because he’s a rookie who is considered top prospect who had 16 rib-eyes in 13 games along with 4 home runs. He’s a pile of dung right now at the plate but he’s a rookie and he’s gonna be streaky. David Ortiz is a popular seasoned major league veteran who is doing bad right now so of course baseball analysts are gonna chew him to pieces. He’ll get the superstar status back if he rebounds like he did last year. I’m not saying you don’t have a point but there’s a couple catches.
The humor in this is that Heyward STILL has an OPS 250 points higher than Ortiz. Is he a superstar yet? No. Is he performing substantially better than Ortiz? Yep.
I would like to have 1 major league at bat. Things that aren’t going to happen.
I’ll admit it… I laughed.
Popi, please, you cannot get by on personality or good looks. You need to hit the ball hard, now! How hard? 10 dingers, 25 rbi’s between now and Memorial Day, then repeat 2009 from that point on amigo. No can do? Hasta luego baby… enjoy your retirement….
he needs to find a team willing to allow him to pick up a bat first.
Papi lost 20 pounds over the winter in hopes that he’d be able to hit his weight this year. Not even close so far.
Twice in the last week, Francona’s pinch-hit for Ortiz. Ortiz has a strong personality, and when things are going well, he’s a great influence. I wonder how long it will be until he becomes a cancer in the club house.