David Ortiz testing rough waters of the free agent market – MLB Update
The offseason in Major League Baseball is picking pace and it seems that Boston Red Sox’s free agent player, David Ortiz, is now attracting multiple teams to bid for him. Although it is still not confirm, there is a high probability that Ortiz has already
received multiple offers and it is only a matter of time before he makes the final decision.
A source disclosed that Ortiz has a lot of options and because talks are still preliminary in nature, a decision will be taken once a resolute offer is made. Boston has already extended arbitration to their designated hitter and the player is yet to announce
his decision of accepting or rejecting the offer. If he accepts the offer, he will be entitled to a few millions over and above his 2011 salary of 12.5-million-dollars. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the player responds to this offer.
Ortiz is going all-out in the free agent market to test the rough waters and thus attempt to cash in on his name with any prospective team. Only a team rich on cash will be able to afford Ortiz and it is likely that the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals
might extend an offer to the highly-priced slugger.
Given his current position in the line-up, Ortiz is expected to wait for a long time before a formal signing is made. The demand for Designated Hitters in the American League is on the lower-side and this is not expected to increase in the near future.
Nonetheless, it is expected that the AL teams are more likely to acquire the free agent in comparison to the National League teams, for whom the DH rule does not apply. Of the AL teams that might bid for Ortiz, the hard-hitting Toronto Blue Jays, World
Series runner-ups Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays are among the top contenders, but there has been no official word by any team in this regard.
The New York Yankees are not expected to spend on their offence and thus it is likely that they might not be interested in the free agent. However, with cash not an issue, the Yankees might become the sole contender in this race.
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