David Ortiz back with Red Sox on front office deal

We’re not out of the woods yet.

Just when Blue Jay fans thought they had rid themselves and the rest of the American League East of David Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox announced on Wednesday that the designated hitter has joined the team in a front office deal.

“The Red Sox have come to a long-term agreement with 10-time All-Star and three-time World Series Champion David Ortiz, inking an unprecedented deal that should link him with the organization forever,” the Red Sox announced on Wednesday evening.

“In his new role, Ortiz will act as a mentor for current players, participate in recruitment efforts, make a variety of special appearances for the club, and work in a business development capacity for Fenway Sports Management and its partners.”

“I cannot think of a better representative for our organization,” principal team owner John Henry was quoted as saying. “I'm happy we can now say officially what we have long known, David is family."

Then there’s this.

If you’re interested in the story and motivations behind the banner, Evan Drellich interviewed one of the members involved with it.

Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline predicted yesterday who the top 10 prospects in Major League Baseball will be. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. clocks in at the top spot on the list (yay!), and Bo Bichette is pegged at fourth (yay again!). At the end of this season, Guerrero sat at third, while Bichette was at 25th.

Callis compares the power and plate discipline of Guerrero to Miguel Cabrera. Is it too early to call him a Hall of Famer? (Don’t answer that.)

Why would anyone need anything besides Joe Biagini in their life?

“Whenever I’m nervous, just skip. That’s what I do.”

A Blue Jay source spoke to Baseball Prospectus Toronto about the team’s interest in Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani. Here’s the money quote (no pun intended):

The source made it clear that the Blue Jays are interested in him beyond due diligence, evidenced by the fact that “it is not cheap” to send 8-10 members of the organization over to Japan to scout somebody. The source continued by saying that the Blue Jays will be involved in contract talks with Otani, “unless the money gets really crazy”, adding that if allowed, he would “give [Otani] the Stanton contract for sure and sleep at night.” That’s very high praise.

If anyone needs reminding, that “Stanton contract” was a 13-year, $325 million deal.