David Ortiz, Red Sox Reach One-Year Agreement

It’s been a long time coming, but the Red Sox and designated hitter David Ortiz have finally reached an agreement on a contract for 2012.  Though it’s not the multi-year deal Ortiz desired, the agreement gives Papi the largest contract in terms of annual value for a DH in baseball history.

Just before they were scheduled to sit down for an arbitration hearing, the Red Sox and Ortiz agreed to split the different of their figures.  The slugger is set to earn $14.575 million, the midpoint of Boston’s offer of $12.65 million and Ortiz’s of $16.5 million.

Ortiz has said for some time that he’d like to avoid an arbitration hearing if at all possible, but that he was leaving the negotiating up to his agent while he focused on the upcoming season.  Ortiz made it clear that he wanted to ink a multi-year deal after posting impressive numbers in 2011, but instead the fan favorite will have to settle for yet another one-year contract.

Last season for the Red Sox Ortiz hit at a clip of .309/.398/.554 with 29 home runs, 40 doubles and 96 RBI’s.  Though he started the season on the wrong side of 35, Ortiz was again the best designated hitter in the league, winning his fifth Silver Slugger Award and earning his seventh All-Star appearance.

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