Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is planning to retire at the end of the 2016 MLB season, according to a report from FOX baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
Ortiz, 39, has played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, 13 with the Boston Red Sox. He hit his 500th career home run last season. He’s best known to Red Sox fans and others for his playoff heroics, helping lead the Red Sox to World Series wins in 2004, 2007, and 2013. Ortiz was named MVP of the 2013 World Series after hitting an astonishing .688, with two home runs, in six games.
Ortiz’s current Red Sox contract has options for next season and the year after. The Sox DH locked in a $16 million salary for 2016 based on plate appearances in 2015. The 2017 option is a team option.
Ortiz addressed the possibility of retirement in a conversation with WEEI’s Rob Bradford in September.
“Life goes on. This isn’t everything,” Ortiz said. “This is just one chapter of my life. It takes a lot of me. A lot. Like, a lot. My wife and family can tell you because I’m very responsible in what I do. I take it really, really, really serious.”
