A plead for Ortiz by Jared Carrabis
Ortiz wants to retire in Boston. What do you think?


(BostonHerald.com) -- "Hopefully, we'll talk," Ortiz told Herald colleague John Tomase before last night’s game. "They know what my feelings are about staying around and playing here and hanging them up with the Red Sox. It’s not like I'm planning to retire right now, but you know what I’m saying. This is home to me. I’ve been in this organization for years and I’ve been well known here. I understand when you’ve got to go somewhere else. This is about producing. That’s why I’ve been here all these years. That’s what I do. We'll see."

At the end of April, David Ortiz was hitting .143 with 21 strikeouts in 56 at-bats, meaning that Boston’s mighty slugger struck out 38% of the time in the first month of the season.

In what was arguably one of the most depressing things I’ve ever seen on a baseball field during a major league game, Ortiz hit rock bottom on April 27 in Toronto. With two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game, Ortiz strolled to the plate with the chance to give the Red Sox the lead.

In a situation where Ortiz thrived for so many years, Red Sox manager Terry Francona called the struggling lefty back to the dugout in favor of Mike Lowell, who pinch-hit for Ortiz.

The look in his eyes was heart breaking. It broke my heart to see what most thought was the end of an era, the day that Ortiz was lifted with two outs and the bases loaded and the game on the line.

Instead of believing in his own heart that he had reached the end of the line, he let his bat do all the talking. Ortiz kicked off his month of May by launching two homers in Baltimore, raising his average to .167.

Even then, writers were not giving him his due credit, as they pointed out that the O’s starter that night, Brad Bergesen, hadn’t pitched more than 4.2 innings to that point.

Despite their unwillingness to accept that Ortiz may have found his swing, Big Papi spent the next month turning doubters into believers.

For the month of May, all Ortiz did was hit .363 with 10 HR and 27 RBI. Ortiz slugged .768 for the month, boosting his OPS to an astronomical 1.211 over the 23-game span, earning him American League Player of the Month honors.

You might be wondering where the sudden burst of power came from, but Ortiz knew that it was there all along. who told, "People started talking trash too early, man," Ortiz told MLB.com's Ian Browne. "That's what I blame it on."

By June 2, Ortiz was hitting a season-high .272, which was 129 points higher than where was on the first of May.

Ortiz has since cooled off, but has remained consistent. Since June 1, Ortiz is hitting .250, but is getting on base at a .415 clip and is slugging .529, good for a highly respectable .944 OPS over his last 32 games. In those 32 games, Ortiz has homered six times and driven in 24 runs, while drawing nearly one walk per game (29).

His numbers (.263, 17 HR, 55 RBI, .938 OPS) have landed him a spot on the 2010 American League All Star team, culminating a complete return to form. As an added bonus, Ortiz will also be featured in Monday night’s State Farm Home Run Derby for the fourth time in his career.

Now, the big question: Do the Red Sox bring Ortiz back next season and beyond?

Even with his stinker of a first month, Ortiz’s 17 home runs are second to the Rangers’ Vladimir Guerrero, who has hit 19 thus far among designated hitters. Ortiz’s 55 RBI only trail Guerrero’s 72, and his 20 doubles have him just one behind Detroit’s Johnny Damon for the most among AL designated hitters. At .938, Ortiz’s OPS is six points shy of Vlad’s and .149 points higher than any other DH in the league. In fact, Ortiz is eighth in the American League in OPS.

I guess the point that I’m trying to make here is that if the Red Sox decide against bringing Ortiz back, there aren’t many who do it better than Papi.

In April of 2006, Ortiz signed a four-year extension with Boston, paying him $12.5 million annually, including a $12.5 million option for 2011.

When GM Theo Epstein and his staff sit down to evaluate Ortiz’s worth, will they ultimately decide that he’s worth his $12.5 million price tag? Probably not. You have to remember that the framework for this deal was constructed when Ortiz was coming off back-to-back seasons of 40+ home runs seasons, and about to embark on a record-breaking season in Red Sox Nation.

According to FanGraphs, based on his numbers through July 8, Ortiz would be worth about $7.1 million on the free agent market if he were to be a free agent today. Now, we have yet to reach the All Star break, so Ortiz could either improve or hurt this number, but if the Red Sox were to decline his option with hopes of signing him to a new deal, I think they’d be looking in the $8-10 million range.

Based on his inconsistencies at the start of both 2009 and 2010, my guess is that Ortiz will likely have to go year-to-year from here on out with Boston. I can’t see the Red Sox committing to a multi-year deal, unless the multi-years are option years.

In my opinion, this isn’t a matter of if the Red Sox will bring back Ortiz, but rather a matter of how they will do it.

Should the Red Sox bring back David Ortiz?
	Yes. Pick up his $12.5 million option for 2011.
	Yes, but decline his option and sign him for less.
	No. Let him walk.
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Published on July 08, 2010

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