David Ortiz accepted Boston's arbitration offer last month, and yesterday GM Ben Cherington met with Fern Cuza, Ortiz's agent, to discuss Ortiz's 2012 salary, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
The deadline for each side to submit arbitration figures is on Tuesday, and MacPherson writes that it's "unlikely" the two sides reach an agreement prior to that point. Big Papi earned $12.5MM last season and should see a raise; MacPherson notes that his production trailed only that of high profile names like Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Adrian Gonzalez (only those three posted a higher OPS).
Ortiz was one of three Type A free agents to accept arbitration last month, with the others being Kelly Johnson and Francisco Rodriguez. When Tim Dierkes polled an MLB team executive, a former agency employee, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, estimates for Ortiz's 2012 salary ranged from $13-15MM. The two sides can continue to negotiate a salary up until the moment before an arbitration hearing begins.
Ortiz is still a powerful player and has contributed greatly. Even though he may be a DH…he can still play 1B. He deserve to get a raise…Go Ortiz !!!!
No, He cannot play 1B, No he does not deserve a raise, he will get one, but he does not deserve to be payed more than what he got last year.
He should be the shame of baseball, for all he can do is hit and sit.
Ortiz is a very good hitter. He deserves a raise.
“He should be the shame of baseball, for all he can do is hit and sit.” — Tom. Tons of players would love to have the ability Ortiz has to hit, this guy is a legitimate power threat. I’m not sure he deserves a raise but it is completely unfair for you to say he is the shame of baseball.
Clearly you don’t like him, for whatever reason. That’s fine. But as long as there’s a job opportunity for players that doesn’t involve fielding (i.e. the designated hitter), it’s kind of foolish to criticize a player who more than qualifies for the job.
Also, he actually can play first base. Not as well as a lot of people in the league, that’s true. But not as badly as some others.
And seriously — the “shame of baseball” for being one of the best designated hitters over the last decade? Did he spit on your wife or something?
If he could play first base he would still be playing firstbase.
Over Agon? lol
He has a better chance playing 2b haha
If Ortiz could play 1B well defensively, the only reason they might choose Agon over him is because of age; Ortiz has shown more offensive potential in his career than Agon has. I don’t think people understand just how good of an offensive player Ortiz really is.
Even with his sub-par years in ’08 and ’10 (it’s amazing that you can actually call .372 and .380 wOBAs ‘sub-par’) and a below league average year in ’09 he has still been a top ten offensive player in all of baseball since ’03. And from ’03-’07 the only players who were better offensively were Bonds and Pujols.
He can play first base and has done so in the past for the Sox during interleague play. He never did it well i’ll grant you, but he can actually catch a ball and move slightly to the left and right. Guy was on at a discounted rate for all of his best years so giving him a slight raise on a one year deal seems fair considering he can still rake and stands alone as the best DH in the league. Kerry Wood gave the Cubs one below market year of production after wasting tons of their money, and tons of people here commented supporting his raise/resign. This is the same thing except Ortiz has done well by us for pretty much his entire career, saved us a ton of money, and become a staple on & off the field (Charity). Guy has earned every single penny we’ve given him and deserves this raise and a chance to stay on this team.
Tom…you are a typical ingrate Boston fan..Ortiz had the weight of the world on him last year..he was written off by fans like you…and he proceeded to carry the Sox for long stretches,as he has been doing for 9 years..I’m loving that he accepted arbitration,and hope he gets the 17 million that he deserves…welcome to the world of the Yankees,where players get payed for past AND present performances!!!
You’re the shame of baseball. woooooo
Red Sox need to get over the tax issue and say screw it…we need players and we will need to go over the ceiling. Bake/lemonade sale to pay luxury tax…just suck up and do it
Red Sox need to go over the ceiling and say the hec k with the luxury tax….if they paid $51M to talk to Dice-K, then paying a little luxury tax should be in order..have a bake/lemonade sale
Every year you go over the Luxury Tax, the % you pay goes up. So with what’s left this year (FA wise), I’d rather they stay under it this year, reset the %, and fix the holes next year.
Can he Pitch?
I sure hope he can pitch
fellow sox fans, who is much less confident about this season after last night? Can we beat the yankees with this current pitching staff?
That was the Yankees weak link and they fixed it. Our bullpen, Youk, Buchholz, Crawford, RF, 4th and 5th starters are question marks. The planets can align and we can have a great season… time will tell.
Absolutely. They are gonna be tough to beat because our offenses are both excellent. They have the better pen, but I think our pen is going to be strong too. Starting wise its kind of a toss up. If both our front threes are healthy its kind of a wash they are six very good pitchers. Its those final two that kind of shift things one way or another. If Hughes comes back to form or Nova takes a step forward then Yankees are arguably better. If Bard transitions successfully and we sign someone like Oswalt or use Aceves we are better. If both of those things happen for both teams it could shift all season, its going to be a lot of fun to watch no matter what happens though.
Right, I think Hughes and Aceves are tougher out of the pen then starters. I don’t think the Sox want to spend anymore money, so if we get another pitcher it will be either by trade or “dumpster diving”. Both teams has the talent… it comes down to who stays healthy and performs.
Right, I think Hughes and Aceves are tougher out of the pen then starters. I don’t think the Sox want to spend anymore money, so if we get another pitcher it will be either by trade or “dumpster diving”. Both teams has the talent… it comes down to who stays healthy and performs.
Dude, anything can happen. Yankees fans thought they had no chance at the division last year.
Dude, anything can happen. Yankees fans thought they had no chance at the division last year.
Yes, definitely.
get ready to sign eJax