For the first time in more than a decade, the Boston Red Sox head into the offseason knowing that David Ortiz and his larger-than-life personality won’t be a fixture in the middle of their lineup when the team reports for spring training next year.
“No one wanted it to end like this,” said Xander Bogaerts, Boston’s 24-year-old shortstop, following the Cleveland Indians‘ series-clinching Game 3 victory over the Red Sox in the American League Division Series, per the Providence Journal‘s Tim Britton.
Whether the “it” Bogaerts was referring to was Boston’s season or Ortiz’s career is irrelevant—he’s right.
The team wasted little time in making one of its biggest offseason decisions, deciding to maintain the status quo in the dugout for 2017.
“John Farrell will be our manager for 2017,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Tuesday, per the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato. “So he is all set and his full staff will be invited back. … Everybody is welcome back. I think they did a very fine job for us.”
Exactly how the roster he’ll be managing will look come Opening Day, however, isn’t quite as clear.