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The Red Sox announced Thursday that they will exercise their contract option on designated hitter David Ortiz by the midnight deadline, guaranteeing that the beloved slugger will stay in Boston through 2011.Ortiz's option for next season is worth $12.5 million, the same salary he has made in each of the last four seasons. Though he will turn 35 in a few weeks, Big Papi's best season out of the last three came this year as he hit .270 with 32 homers and 102 RBI, most of that production coming after an abysmal April.
One of the Red Sox' biggest heroes in their miraculous 2004 World Series run, Ortiz has repeatedly said this year that he is uncomfortable with the notion of going into next season without a long-term deal.
"To tell you the truth, like everybody knows, I want to be back, and I want to be here for a longer period of time. I'm just a little worn out because of the negativity that I've dealt with the last few years," Ortiz told WEEI.com last week.
"I don't think there's any baseball player that can deal with all the distractions that I deal with and play baseball. It's hard. I'm not a super hero. I'm just another human being, like everyone else. I've got feelings. I want to give this team another World Series, and dealing with all the other crap with people telling you can't do it no more, or this and that, I have no room for that."
Despite that desire, the Red Sox do not appear inclined to offer him the extension he's looking for, with GM Theo Epstein telling Boston media on a conference call that an agreement couldn't be reached and that Ortiz ultimately was "cool" with the decision.
Boston also picked up the option of right-handed reliever Scott Atchison and declined options on infielders Bill Hall and Felipe Lopez. The team also acquired infielder Brent Dlugach from the Tigers for a player to be named or cash.
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