David Ortiz May DH Somewhere Not Named Boston

David Ortiz has been offered salary arbitration by the Boston Red Sox and he has yet to accept it.

Ortiz has until the December 7th deadline to accept the Sox offer and accept essentially a one-year deal to remain in Boston as the DH. He would likely be making roughly $14million next year, but the deal is not a guaranteed contract.

This could be cause for concern to Ortiz and his agent.

At the start of the 2009 season Ortiz was awful in the months of April and May. He did not hit his first home run of the season until May 20th against Toronto, at which point he was only batting .210 with a .319 OBP. He finished the season only batting .238 but did manage 28 home runs and 99 RBI's with an OPS of .794 (his lowest ever as a full time player.)

2010 started no different than 2009. While he managed to homer much earlier in this season (April 23rd to be exact) his bat was still a major concern. His batting average at the end of April was a dreadful .143 with an OPS of .524. Once again, he did rebound to have a fine statistical season, but in an arbitration year, he may not get a full season to turn things around.

Both years he was under contract, therefore his money was guaranteed. In an arbitration year, slow starts like in 2009 or 2010 could mean that the Red Sox would entertain the idea of cutting ties with Ortiz and have no obligation to pay him the salary.

Ortiz appears hesitant to sign the arbitration offer because he is currently seeking a 3-year deal. I doubt he is going to find that offer in Boston.

There are a few teams that come to mind that may want to utilize Ortiz's service for the next three seasons, but you have to look at the field of suitors and potential landing spots objectively. First of all, every NL team is out of the running.

David Ortiz won't be playing first base any time soon.

His talent is hitting, and only hitting, so wipe 15 teams out of contention. Now comes the issue of money; who can afford David Ortiz? The A's, the Indians, the Twins and Rays all can be counted out of the running, unless he opted for a pay cut. That narrows the field down to 11 possible suitors.

What teams are in need of a DH? You can count out the Yankees, as they have Alex Rodriguez pretty much primed to be the DH, if Jeter doesn't get the job first. The White Sox locked up Adam Dunn to fulfill that role for them. Boston has made it clear they have no interest in bringing him back for 3 seasons. So where is the need?

There are three teams that I believe could be serious suitors for Ortiz.

First, the Toronto Blue Jays have been rumored to have interest in Prince Fielder. I'm not so certain they can afford Fielder, but they are looking to add some offensive protection in the lineup behind Jose Bautista. Ortiz is historically known to be a clubhouse guy and would bring a nice veteran presence to the young Blue Jay squad. He would literally double the production the Jays are getting from their current DH, Edwin Encarnacion as well.

Encarnacion is a career .260 hitter with a .336 OBP, .453 SLG and .789 OPS. Over the past 3 seasons he has homered 13, 21, & 17 times respectively while driving in 39, 51 and 55 runs. For comparison sake, Ortiz is a career .283 hitter with a .378 OBP, .544 SLG and a .922 OPS. Over the past three seasons, he has homered 28, 32, and 29 times respectively while driving in 99, 102, and 96 runs.

Next up is the Baltimore Orioles, a team that I think is more likely to land Ortiz than many think. Having just signed Dan Duquette as their new general manager, I see the O's making a little noise. They are geared up with a young team with a stud catcher, a new/old logo back and in need of some star power to give the team a shot in the arm. Duquette is no stranger to making big signings or acquiring top tier talent (see Manny Ramierez, Pedro Martinez) and that brashness will pay off for him in Baltimore.

While the Orioles are realistically more than just one big signing away from being in the hunt for a World Series, it would be a step for them. This would be a spark to make them more competitive and help to even out the landscape in the harsh American League East.

Lastly, the Seattle Mariners could prove to be a dark horse in the David Ortiz courtship. Here is the deal with Seattle, they have excellent starting pitching, pretty good players on the roster, but they have no significant offensive threats on the team.

The Mariners are another team that has been rumored to have significant interest in Prince Fielder, and they have the cash to sign him. From what I have read on various websites, the Mariners want Prince to DH and not play first, opting to keep Justin Smoak there.

From what I've read, Prince wants to play first base, not DH.

This is why Ortiz would make perfect sense for the Mariners. They would get the slugger they are looking for at the position they are looking for, presumably for considerably less money than what they initially thought they would spend. Locking Ortiz up for those three years would allow the team to build up around him and develop some of their younger talent further, like Justin Smoak.

So Boston fans, don't be surprised to see another Red Sox favorite donning another teams laundry in 2012.

Is tonight "make it or break it" for the Red Sox?

This morning while dropping my daughter off at daycare I was listening to WEEI (sorry Sports Hub, reception isn't that grand in New Bedford) and heard Gerry Callihan boldly proclaim that if Josh Beckett and the Red Sox lose tonight against Tampa Bay - they will not be in the playoffs. I said this was a bold claim, and I truthfully believe it. At first, I found myself agreeing with what Callihan said, but then gave it a bit more thought.

Admittedly the Red Sox have a depleted lineup right now. Going into tonight we already know that Kevin Youkilis will be out nursing a hernia. Jed Lowrie is out busy trying to be the under established JD Drew of the team. JD Drew will be out because he's JD Drew. Ortiz is banged up. Crawford has been sub-par and the pitching staff is depleted. Fear not Sox fans, there is hope both tonight and beyond. Tonight we might see Mike Aviles play third base which is not ideal, but he is a solid defender. Perhaps we could see some of that run prevention that Theo always talks about. We will also see a cooled down Josh Reddick in right field as the righty James Shields will be on the mound for Tampa Bay. It is important to note that this would be the first time Reddick would face Shields.

Let's move past tonight. If the Sox win, they are gaining time and a game... for a day. Tomorrow it is Jon Lester against Jeff Nieman. If we split these two games we are no worse off than we are right now. The big question is Sunday with Tim Wakefield facing David Price who, by the way has dominated every Red Sox batter not named Kevin Youkilis over the past 5 years (Youk has 4 hits in 10 at bats against Price.) I'm a realist. Barring any unforeseen offensive explosions on Sunday the Sox will likely drop that game. I feel real good about Beckett and Lester. Especially Lester, coming off of a terrible outing with a chip on his shoulder. I have a feeling the Sox will leave this series leading the Rays by 4 games in the Wild Card race.

Then what happens? The Red Sox go on to host the 60-88 Baltimore Orioles at home for 4 games. Kicking off Monday with a double header - which is rough after a fierce series with the Rays. Still, I feel better with Lackey and maybe Andrew Miller facing Baltimore over Tampa Bay. While the Red Sox are busy hosting the Orioles for 4 home games, Tampa Bay will be visiting the 90-58 New York Yankees for 4 games. They too have a double header lined up for their series on Tuesday. The Sox then hit the road to close out their season, playing 3 games against those same New York Yankees, whom may have just had a hard fought series with Tampa Bay and whom, its worth mentioning, the (healthy) Red Sox have owned this season. Tampa heads home to start a 3 game series with the 75-74 Toronto Blue Jays. A team that I think is better than their record reflects. The Sox will then head into Baltimore to play their final 3 games of the season as the Rays host the Yankees once again.

Simple math here - the Red Sox are playing a sub-.500 team 7 times before the end of the season. The Rays are playing a sub-.500 team 0 times. Scheduling bodes well for the Red Sox. I do not see any way that the Boston Red Sox will not make the playoffs this season. Sadly though, I'm not sure how far they can make it with their depleted staff. The post season does have a way of bringing normal players into elite status though - just take a look at Cody Ross in San Francisco for example. Maybe this years Cody Ross could be Carl Crawford? Who knows? What I do know is, the Red Sox will be playing baseball in October.