After taking plate appearance No. 600 on Sunday, David Ortiz‘s 2016 salary has now maxed out at a value of $16MM. The slugger first got his option to vest for 2016 at a value of $11MM when he reached 425 plate appearances back in August. Since then, however, he has boosted that total by $1MM each time he hit 475, 500, 525, 575, and 600 PAs, respectively.
Ortiz, 40 in November, hasn’t slowed down much in his old age. After an up-and-down first half of the season, Ortiz has turned it up to bring his slash line to .270/.357/.546 (heading into today’s game) with a whopping 36 home runs on the year. The only thing now standing between the veteran and his $16MM payout for next season is a physical, as the option is contingent on a clean bill of health. However, he seems rather healthy as he turns in another stellar season as Boston’s DH.
Ortiz is a veteran of 19 seasons – six with the Twins and 13 with Boston. The Mariners originally signed him as an amateur free agent back in 1992. Over the course of his career, Oritz has earned nine All-Star selections and, more importantly, helped the Red Sox to three World Series championships.
With the way that work out regimens are in today’s world, could 45 years old be the new end of life for a baseball player?
Not for Ortiz. Guy can barely run anymore, his wheels are shot. I’d be surprised to see him play past next season.
I think 2016 will be it, even if he should somehow hit 30 HR.
Same with Orlando Cepada, Rico Carty and several other guys who were forced into retirement but who could still swing the bat as good as any man could.
Anybody who is against the DH and doesn’t want to see gentleman like these. Pure hitters with sweet swings play longer careers, just isn’t a true fan of the game. Period.
I’ve heard this same thing every year for past 6 years and yet he still produces big numbers. Some might say he’s best hitter in lineup
With all the high-end talent coming up from the minors, there won’t be room for guys like Ortiz, Moyer, Thome, etc. Guys who play into their 40s get out played and need to be paid more than a 22 year old from AAA.
There’s a big difference between Thome at the end of his career and where Ortiz is now. Thome was perfectly happy being a bench bat and was paid accordingly. Even putting aside what he means to the franchise, Ortiz is still a productive starter.
The guys who get pushed out and forced to retire are the ones who want too much money or a guaranteed roster spot. There will always be room for players like Thome and Giambi as long as they can put up passable numbers and don’t mind playing for fractions of what they used to make. Veteran leadership is very valuable to most teams.
Also Ortiz is a 3x champ to a city that went almost 100 years without a championship. He’s immortal to Boston
Ortiz has hit 270 with 36 home runs and 104 rbi’s this year with still 7 games to play. He is a lot more valuable then late career Moyer or Thome. Ortiz could probably play through 2017 without really interfering with the young talent. If anyone holds back younger guys it will be the likes of Hanley and Pablo.
Thome took a 90% paycut to play at 39, then went out and had a terrific year. He still contributed, albeit as a part time player, at age 40 and 41, also for low salaries. Yes, I think youth and athleticism has more value, but it was a lot of fun to watch Thome crush one–he knew how to fit in and didn’t carp about playing time or money.
Ortiz could because he only swings a bat, and doesn’t play the field.
That’s what people have been saying since 2010!
With a 3.0 WAR – and the cost per WAR is $5MM (extension) and $7MM (free agency) – you can say Ortiz is worth $15-21MM.
Well earned. Some may say he’s underpaid. Class act this big papi is.