DETROIT — Big Papi in the Big Apple would be a Big Mistake.
In 2008 the Yankees jack-hammered David Ortiz’s jersey out of the Yankee Stadium cement and the last thing the Yankees need in their world right now is to welcome Ortiz in a pinstriped jersey.
The last thing they need is another aging slugger, especially one from the Red Sox.
What’s next? Bring Curt Schilling out of retirement to fill the void in the rotation?
The Yankees need to get younger, not older. The Yankees need to make young Jesus Montero the DH, not a disgruntled aging Red Sox player.
In an interview with ESPN yesterday, Papi has let it be known that there is “too much drama” in Boston and that he would “think about” defecting to the Yankees. He is close to Alex Rodriguez and, sure, he would bring some smiles into the Yankees clubhouse. But the Yankees and Brian Cashman don’t need to be taking on Boston’s woes.
“There’s too much drama, man,” Ortiz said of the Red Sox. “There’s too much drama. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I don’t know if I want to be part of this drama for next year.”
As for the Yankees, he said he wouldn’t mind playing in The Bronx.
“That’s something I’ve got to think about,” he said. “It’s great from what I hear. It’s a good situation to be involved in. Who doesn’t want to be involved in a great situation where everything goes the right way?”
Yes, the Red Sox are a mess, but the Yankees don’t need to bail Boston out of any of its problems. Let that ship go down in flames in Boston Harbor. Let the Red Sox figure out what to do with Papi. Let them re-sign him or cut ties.
This is not 2004. Theo Epstein has left for the Cubs and, in many ways, has left the Red Sox a mess. The Yankees need to solve their own problems, starting with adding pitching.
C.J. Wilson could put the Rangers in the World Series today for the second straight October with a win over the gutty Tigers, but look at what is happening to aging sluggers. They are breaking down like never before. Look at A-Rod’s issues. Look how the Tigers are trying to stay afloat after right-fielder Magglio Ordonez went down in this series with his second fractured ankle.
Ortiz will turn 36 next month. He had a wonderful ride in Boston. The Yankees don’t need to be taking on any of the Red Sox problems. Ortiz hit .309 this season with 29 home runs. But he hit one home run in September as the Red Sox went down in flames. He couldn’t bring Boston out of its funk, how is he going to bring the Yankees to World Championship No. 28?
One of the Yankees big issues is that there is a sense of entitlement in some parts of the clubhouse and in some parts of the organization. The Big Papi Show would be another major distraction. The Yankees need less sideshows and more production. Yankees fans could never fully embrace Ortiz. Ortiz made $12.5 million this season and any price tag for the free agent would be too much at this point. The Yankees can find much better ways to spend their money. They need to make sure CC Sabathia is back and add a quality arm like Wilson.
The aging slugger put up a .372 slugging percentage in September when the Red Sox needed him most. He drove in eight runs in 111 at-bats for the month.
The Red Sox collapsed in September, but there was a telling event at Yankee Stadium in June when Ortiz was hit by a pitch from Sabathia. In the visiting clubhouse after that game, Big Papi put on a big hissy fit, blaming the media for the fact he was hit because the media had noted that it was time Ortiz got plunked by one of the Yankees’ pitchers.
That night Ortiz cursed reporters and quickly ended his postgame interview. He was furious. And this was after a Red Sox sweep of the Yankees. That night it was all about Big Papi. In the end the Red Sox collapsed because they were a bunch of individuals, each more worried about himself than the team.
The Yankees don’t need the Big Papi Sideshow. They need to get younger, and more athletic.
Take this idea that Big Papi could be a Yankee and shove it down that hole that was left when Ortiz’s jersey was jack-hammered from Yankee Stadium.