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Boston Red Sox could look to Toronto for David Ortiz replacement

By Tim Haberin

May 14, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Jose Bautista (19) celebrates with first baseman Edwin Encarnacion (10) after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
May 14, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Jose Bautista (19) celebrates with first baseman Edwin Encarnacion (10) after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Red Sox could turn to one of a pair of division rival sluggers in next offseason’s search for a successor for David Ortiz.

The 2016 MLB season is only a week old, but that doesn’t mean fans and media can’t already run wild with speculation about next year. Regardless of how the current campaign ends, the Boston Red Sox will have their hands full this winter finding a suitable replacement for team icon David Ortiz, who is set to retire at the close of the season.

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe put forward a pair of intriguing choices, and the Sox wouldn’t have to turn their attention very far to get a good look at them. Toronto Blue Jays sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion will be free agents this offseason, and either could be a legitimate option to take Big Papi’s place in the heart of the BoSox lineup.

Bautista and Encarnacion’s powerful displays north of the border over the past several seasons are renowned throughout the league. From 2010 to 2015, Bautista slashed .268/.390/.555 while averaging 38 home runs and 97 RBIs per year. Over that same span, Encarnacion owned a .271/.358/.525 line and averaged 32 homers and 88 RBIs each season.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more productive and imposing one-two punch in any other lineup in baseball over the last six years.

As AL East stalwarts, both players have plenty of experience playing in Boston and would conceivably make the transition with relative ease. In 56 career games at Fenway Park, Bautista has hit .278/.367/.598 with 21 long balls and 48 RBIs. Encarcnacion sports a .283/.366/.493 line, 10 homers and 42 RBIs of his own in 40 games in Boston.

Cafardo notes that both are premier right-handed power hitters and would likely be able to feast at Fenway over the course of a full season, taking advantage of the Green Monster in left field. And with Bautista and Encarnacion each posting pull percentages of around 50 percent during their careers (46.7 and 50.4 percent, respectively), that could indeed be a tantalizing possibility.

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The Sox already plucked a vital player from the Jays in free agency last year in David Price, and this coming offseason would give them another opportunity to weaken a division rival. However, there are a few reasons that could give Boston pause in their potential pursuit of either of the Toronto sluggers.

For one thing, Encarnacion will be 34 and Bautista will be 36 during the 2017 campaign. Both will be seeking multi-year deals for significant money. Bautista supposedly requested a staggering five years and $150 million in extension talks with the Jays, but he later denied those reports. Toronto apparently broached the subject of a two-year deal with Encarnacion, which he promptly turned down.

Although the Sox didn’t hesitate to hand Price a seven-year contract (albeit with a key opt-out clause) last December, they were burned only a year before by long-term deals with Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. While Bautista and Encarnacion won’t come with the conditioning concerns of a player like Sandoval, Boston still might think carefully about signing another position player over 30 to a multi-year pact.

There is also the question of how either player would be integrated into the lineup. Ortiz, of course, plays almost exclusively as a designated hitter. Encarnacion is a corner infielder by trade but has extensive experience in the DH role as well. In the case of Bautista, who boasts one of the strongest arms in the game, there would likely be a desire to get him regular starts in the outfield, which could prove tricky.

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For Ortiz’s part, he’s a big fan of Encarnacion picking up his mantle. He recently told WEEI, “Hell, yeah. He’s a perfect replacement. Because of everything, but mostly because he can hit.”

Hard to argue with that.

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