Kuzul

“Thank you, David Ortiz, but your services are no longer be needed. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.”

If only. 

One of the most polarizing figures in Boston Red Sox history, Ortiz could do no wrong through his first five seasons with the Boston Red Sox.

Since then, however, the husky designated hitter has been the subject of growing speculation after a suspicious positive drug test, an increasingly short fuse, disappearances at the plate for months at a time and an overly vocal displeasure about his various contract situations.

For a ballclub looking to re-design itself and get a fresh new look after one of the most catastrophic 13-month stretches in franchise history, these attributes aren’t appealing for someone who is supposed to be a franchise player.

These facts left the Red Sox with a tough decision.

Ortiz wanted a multi-year deal, but the tell-tale signs of a risky, lengthy union were insurmountable. It was like the Red Sox got down one one knee to propose, but continued to push off the actual wedding day because the bride-to-be won’t be able to dance at the wedding because of an Achilles injury.

Next she’s interrupting a meeting between her wedding planner and the flower guy to say they need to have a talk. Meanwhile Boston’s buddies are waving their arms behind the bride’s head saying, “No! No! For the love of God, don’t go through with it!”

Or something like that.

ESPN reports the sides have reached a deal, but there were five huge reasons why Boston would have been better off letting the big guy go.

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The Boston Red Sox and David Ortiz have come to terms on a two-year deal worth $26 million, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Incentives could raise the value of the deal to a maximum of $30 million.

The Sox reportedly made a qualifying $13.3 million offer to Ortiz just before Friday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, according to Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com.

Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston reported in late October that Ortiz and the Sox were close to agreeing on a two-year deal worth about $25 million, but could not come to an agreement on the terms of the deal.

Rumors were circling this week about the Texas Rangers‘ interest in acquiring Ortiz’s services should he not agree to terms with the Sox before Friday’s deadline, according to Nick Cafardo of Boston.com. The Rangers’ alleged involvement may have been the tipping point for the Red Sox staff to budge in negotiations and make the move to retain Ortiz.

Boston was wise to keep the face of its franchise in town for at least the next two seasons, as it continues the transition it started by shipping several of its best players out of New England before the 2012 MLB trade deadline.

In August, Boston sent expensive All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a nine-player trade.

Ortiz’s veteran presence will be critical for the team as it attempts to pick up the pieces after a very disappointing 2012 season.

Ortiz, who turns 37 this month, played in just 90 games for the Sox in 2012. He suffered an Achilles injury in mid-July and only played in one more contest the rest of the season

In limited action, Ortiz still showed he can produce, starting out the season hot by notching 23 homers and 60 RBI and recording a .318 average.

This is a fitting beginning to the end of Ortiz’s illustrious career. It’s good that he refrained from soiling his name by becoming a hired gun for the New York Yankees, Rangers or Baltimore Orioles.

It’s best that he’s staying put in Boston to write the final chapter of his 16-year career as part of a team he helped revive from the losing abyss with two Worlds Series crowns.

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It is a reality that all Boston fans must face: David Ortiz will one day be gone.

Now, that day may not be coming in the foreseeable future, as the Red Sox and Ortiz are close to finalizing a two-year agreement, but Ortiz is currently 36 years old and his clock is ticking.

That doesn’t mean that anyone has forgotten how important Ortiz has been to the Boston sports community.  Not only is David Ortiz one of the greatest designated hitters of all-time and potential first-ballot Hall of Famer, he was also instrumental in helping the Red Sox win their first title in 86 years.

However, entering a year that is going to be pivotal in a changing baseball climate, here are 10 reasons the Red Sox need to bid Papi a fond farewell.

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Big Papi is a big need in Boston.

DH David Ortiz has been one of the few consistent bright spots during the course of this season for the Boston Red Sox. At 49-51 entering Saturday, there hasn’t been much to cheer about for the Fenway faithful.

Let’s be honest. Whether you are a giant Red Sox fan, or you hate them with every fiber in your being, it is somewhat strange to see them staring up at so many teams in the standings.

The Red Sox are currently 5.5 games back in the AL wild card and 11.5 games behind their arch rival, the New York Yankees.

The rivalry has been virtually non existent this season, and with 14 percent of the Red Sox remaining schedule to be played at Yankee Stadium, their chances of making the playoffs appear to be slim to none.

Ortiz has hit to the tune of .316/.414/.609 this season, and was a large reason why the Red Sox were able to play as well as they did.

Injuries have plagued the team during this season and are a huge reason why they have been unable to contend.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Carl Crawford, Andrew Bailey, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Beckett, David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz and Dustin Pedroia have all missed significant time at some point this year.

Not to mention, their starting rotation has been somewhat of a headache as expectations have not been met by Beckett or Jon Lester.

A trade would be huge for the Red Sox, but the market is beginning to get a tad bit weaker. There are plenty of players who could still make an impact, both pitchers and position players. Bobby Valentine has said there are no gaping holes on the team, and I agree with him. The problem isn’t that there’s no talent on the roster, the problem is the talent is not producing.

Ortiz should be back sometime next week. If they don’t suffer any other injuries, it will be about as healthy as the Red Sox have been all year. 

With a healthy team plus Ortiz, the Red Sox have a strong shot at claiming a second wild card spot and earning a “win or go home” game in October. The Red Sox are 3-7 since losing Ortiz and have fallen below .500.

Red Sox fans, be prepared for the clutch narrative to return in August and September. When Big Papi makes his return, the absolute final shot for Boston to make it to October will begin. There will be little room for error.

Follow Brandon Wheeland on Twitter @BrandonWheeland for MLB news/analysis and more. Staff Writer for ClimbingTalsHill.com. Check out the newly launched blog Wheeland On Sports

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It doesn’t seem too long ago that I was standing among a mass of Red Sox fans in the streets of Boston at the 2007 World Series Championship parade. What I will never forget from that day, aside from Jonathan Papelbon’s horrible Irish step-dancing, is the unwavering support that was shown to former Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

People may forget, but it was that offseason that Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract with the Yankees, making it possible for Boston to try and pursue him. Now there is no question that A-Rod’s talent far outweighed that of Mike Lowell. But for Sox fans, it was not about that. It was about the character that Lowell had shown on a consistent basis that made him the guy that Boston fans wanted as their everyday third baseman. Chants of “Re-sign Lowell” rang down upon the famous duck boats, and it felt like the party would never end as this team was sure to contend for years to come.

The same jubilation and hope for the future I saw exhibited by Red Sox nation that day does not exist anymore. Instead, it’s been replaced by a festering pessimism that has been rapidly growing since the team’s epic collapse last September. And if you even mention the word character to a Sox fan about this roster as it is currently constituted, expect a full blown laugh-out-loud moment to ensue.

Boston’s beloved Red Sox have somehow lost their way. In a span of five years this team has not only destroyed all of the goodwill that two championships within a decade brought, it destroyed the unbelievable high of breaking an 86-year winless drought.

And no one has been able to avoid this gigantic wave of negativity.

Dustin Pedroia, who many consider to be the spark-plug of this team, turned fans off with his comments regarding manager Bobby Valentine’s handling of the massively slumping Kevin Youkilis (via WEEI). David Ortiz, who in his own right should be considered a Boston sports legend, went on a tear this week while being interviewed by reporters making it clear that he is not enjoying his time on Yawkey Way anymore (via NESN). Even the former captain and now retired Jason Varitek came under mass scrutiny for his part, or lack thereof, in the handling of last year’s dreadful September.

Tell someone in Boston that Tek’s leadership skills were not up to par after his A-Rod face shoving heroics in ’04 and they most likely would have spit in your face. And don’t even go down the road of addressing Josh Beckett. Talk about a fall from grace since 2007.

So what character we thought existed amongst these guys has either faded away or maybe just never existed in the first place. Whatever the case may be, something needs to drastically change. This team has become a three-ring circus and it seems that there is no end in sight.

Sox fans have lost that faith they were told to keep in the entire organization, from ownership on down. Maybe it’s time to clean house and start fresh with the young guns down in the minors. The Red Sox are surely not famished for young, up-and-coming talent.

My question is, can this team find its identity again? For years what we thought we knew about these guys now seems like it was merely a mirage. All I’m saying is that the nation had it right in ’07. Character counts.

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If you’re a fantasy player, you’re probably well aware that the Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz is one of the only players in the game with no positional eligibility: he can only play designated hitter at a utility slot.

He’s one of the few DHs so designated: others are designated third basemen (Edwin Encarnacion, Chris Davis), outfielders (Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales) or even catchers (Jesus Montero).

Since Ortiz only plays DH, that means he sits in interleague games played in National League parks. In last night’s game in Philadelphia, he only had one plate appearance, as a pinch hitter.

With more interleague games coming next season, the Sox could be potentially losing Ortiz’s bat for a large number of games.

Boston needs Ortiz’s bat: He’s currently leading the Red Sox in average, homers, OBP, OPS, hits and bases on balls.  Ortiz has hit at least 28 homers every season he’s been with the Sox, and had an OPS north of .850 in every year but one.

So how do the Sox squeeze Ortiz into the lineup?  Put him in the outfield!

Due to injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford that are occurring with increasing frequency, and Cody Ross day-to-day, Boston has some holes in its outfield.  Even with the acquisition of Marlon Byrd, Ryan Sweeney is the only decent hitter out there.

Bolstering the outfield and having a place for Ortiz’s bat all 162 games isn’t the only reason this move should be considered.  It would also allow the Sox to move Kevin Youkilis to DH and avoid the potential platoon situation they’re facing with Youkilis and phenom Will Middlebrooks.

Some would say that Ortiz shouldn’t be fielding, due to his well-known lack of legs.  True, Ortiz has a career minus-15.5 defensive wins-above-replacement, but that is mostly because a DH is starting with a base dWAR of minus-1.0 a season anyway.  

Ortiz has a career .989 fielding percentage, which isn’t that bad.  It’s about dead-even with Ross’ career fielding percentage and better than Byrd’s career fielding percentage, or Sweeney’s fielding percentage right now.

You’d also ask, “What happens when Crawford and Ellsbury come back?”  Well, assuming that ever happens, Boston can just make a pitching-for-hitting trade to bolster their anemic rotation and bullpen.

Bottom line: It would behoove the Sox to experiment with Ortiz in the outfield.

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At 36 years of age, David Ortiz is having the type of season that rivals his 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, at ages 29, 30 and 31 respectively.

In each of those seasons, Ortiz finished second, third and fourth in the American League MVP voting consecutively.

This season, he is absolutely raking for the Boston Red Sox. I must eat crow, I wanted him out of town during the winter and I was wrong.

Not only is Ortiz leading the Red Sox in most offensive categories, he is at the top of the MLB leaderboards in most categories as well.

I know it is hard to imagine anyone but the Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton winning the award right now, but think about it, Ortiz isn’t all that far behind Hamilton in many categories.

Ortiz is third in batting average at .353 behind only Derek Jeter and Hamilton. That being said, his career-high average came in 2007 when he finished the year batting .332.

His OBP is sitting at .417, again, third best in the AL behind Paul Konerko and Hamilton. That would be second to only his .445 OBP in 2007, which led the American League.

Hamilton is running away from everyone in slugging at .852, but Ortiz is second with a .633, which is about .040 points higher than next in line, Adam Dunn. Only in 2006 at .636 did he have a higher career SLG.

Ortiz ranks second in OPS as well, with a 1.050 to Hamilton’s 1.310. They are the only two players with an OPS over one right now in the AL. Only in 2007 did Ortiz have a higher OPS with a 1.066.

In terms of extra-base hits, Hamilton comes across as having more impressive numbers. He does have 18 home runs after all, which leads the AL. Ortiz, however, has 15 doubles, which leads the AL. Ortiz has eight home runs while Hamilton has five doubles. Neither has a triple to their credit, which means both have 23 extra base hits this season.

Jeter does lead all AL batters in hits with 55, with Hamilton in second at 52 and Ortiz in third with 49.

After having a closer look at the raw numbers, Ortiz really isn’t that far off. The season is still young enough to allow for a few hills and valleys for both Ortiz and Hamilton to have to overcome.

Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is for sure: Ortiz is making a strong case for a new two-year agreement for himself in Boston at the end of the season.

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More than other team sports, baseball grants its players longevity.

Being on the wrong side of 35 isn’t such an awful thing. I could muster a formidable 25-man roster comprised strictly of MLB players who are of that age or older.

Time eventually reduces all athletes, but elite baseball players often sustain their level of play as their hair grays.

Veterans of the game adjust to adversity. They continue to contribute even when agility, bat speed and arm strength deserts them.

It is a sport unintentionally engineered to preserve its athletes.

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If there’s anything the New York Yankees don’t need right now, it’s another player like David Ortiz.

And if there’s one team on which Ortiz’s talents would be squandered, it’s the Yankees.

See where I’m going with this?

After a long and successful tenure with the Boston Red Sox, Big Papi may be on the way out of Beantown as a free agent, with some “baseball insiders” suggesting he may cross over to the (other) Dark Side to suit up in pinstripes.

The only issues? He and the Yankees simply don’t need each other. New York’s roster is already loaded with old, overpaid stars of yesteryear who will need at-bats at the DH spot, where Ortiz, a career professional hitter and a mediocre fielder at best, does the bulk of his damage.

The assumption around Yankee Stadium is that Jorge Posada, the longtime catcher who spent most of the 2011 season “DHing,” will retire, though that won’t exactly open up more opportunities for someone like Big Papi to absorb. Aging Hall-of-Famers like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter figure to get a reprieve from the field in that spot, as does first baseman Mark Teixeira.

That is, when rookie Jesus Montero isn’t busy eating up opposing pitchers and the at-bats that come with the territory.

Therefore, even if the Yankees wanted to kick the rival Red Sox while they’re down and pick up Ortiz, doing so wouldn’t exactly be to the betterment of their chances of winning, not with a team that’s already among the oldest and least effective defensively in all of baseball.

Nor would a move to New York necessarily benefit Big Papi. Aside from scaring off Wally, a cap swap would put Ortiz in a position where, as previously mentioned, he would be lucky to sniff 400 or 500 plate appearances, much less the 605 trips to the batter’s box he garnered in Beantown this season. Instead, he’d be relegated to a sort of platoon duty, splitting the bulk of his time with Montero while ceding his spot to A-Rod, Jeter and Tex on occasion.

And it’s not as though Big Papi can’t handle a full workload, either. Ortiz had a terrific season at age 35, hitting .309 with 29 homers, 96 RBI and an OPS of .952. The man can still rake but probably doesn’t have too many primo productive years left in the tank. As such, he’d be well served to take his act to a team on the cusp of big things, a team in need of a veteran presence and a powerful bat.

Like, say, Tampa Bay, thereby following in the footsteps of former teammates Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. The Rays showed in September that they have the pieces to be a dangerous team in the AL East in 2012, sporting a combination of dominant pitching, strong defense and clutch hitting that even the mighty Yankees can’t match.

Wherever Ortiz goes, he isn’t likely to find any monstrous, long-term deal. He’ll get one year, maybe two if he’s lucky, at around $5 or 6 million per, though New York may be more inclined to offer him a deal in the $2 million range, as they did with Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones.

The key for Big Papi is to find the right fit on a good team with legitimate World Series aspirations. The Yankees don’t have the at-bats, the need or really the pennant prospects that would make springing for Ortiz a sound, logical move.

Then again, when it comes to Yankees-Red Sox, you can pretty much throw logic and sound reasoning right out the window. GM Brian Cashman passed up an opportunity to sign Big Papi when he was released by the Minnesota Twins in 2002, which opened the door for the Dominican daddy to sign with Boston and become one of the Yanks’ biggest tormentors over the last nine years.

But, if Cashman is smart, he’ll resist the temptation to make up for lost time, and if Ortiz is smart, he’ll turn down the chance to redo history if Cashman can’t help himself.

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This picture pretty much says it all. This is the attitude the Red Sox will have to have about the year 2011 and everything that came with it. 

It was a roller coaster-type year for the Sox in 2011, but unlike most coasters, the biggest drop off came at the end of the ride, as opposed to the beginning. 

Going 7-20 in September was the biggest free-falling coaster in MLB history—not to mention all the drama that followed! 

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