David Ortiz isn’t going anywhere — for one year, at least.
The Red Sox picked up a $12.5 million team option on their DH Thursday, ending speculation that Ortiz could hit the free-agent market — or land a big-money extension.
Ortiz, 34, rebounded from a down year in 2009 with one of the top seasons in the AL in 2010. He broke the 30-HR (32) and 100-RBI (102) barriers for the first time since 2007, while putting up a .899 OPS.
“David did express an interest in a multi-year deal to us, as well as publicly,”?GM Theo Epstein told reporters. “We explored that. But we couldn’t find anything that made as much sense as the one-year commitment. In the end, David understands this outcome.”
Adrian Beltre, meanwhile, is a free agent after declining his option.