No arbitration for Ortiz
David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox have avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $14,575,000.
The deal was midway between the $16.5 million the designated hitter asked for last month and the $12.65 million submitted by the Red Sox, which matched his 2011 earnings.
"I feel happy since I avoided going to arbitration," Ortiz said, hours before the hearing had been scheduled to start.
Ortiz hit .309 with 29 homers and 96 RBIs last year. The 36-year-old became a free agent after the season, then accepted Boston's offer of arbitration under the last year of the old collective-bargaining agreement.
Starting this fall, instead of arbitration, teams may give their players qualifying offers equal to the average salary of the top 125 players ranked by salary.
Jeter says AL stronger
Yankees captain Derek Jeter says offseason moves have made the American League stronger and new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine will make Boston even more exciting.
The Los Angeles Angels added free-agent slugger Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson, while Detroit signed power-hitting Prince Fielder, the son of former Tigers' star Cecil Fielder.
Said Jeter: "It's scary for the whole American League, especially for the West and Central."
The Red Sox replaced Terry Francona with Valentine, a one-time New York Mets manager, after an epic late-season slide last year kept Boston out of the playoffs.
- Inquirer wire services
