On Thursday, hours before their midnight deadline, the Red Sox exercised their $12.5 million option on David Ortiz for the 2011 season, the Red Sox announced. Ortiz publicly stated last week that he was confident he'd be with Boston in 2011, but also stated that he'll want a multi-year deal.
He told WEEI "I'm not comfortable coming back just for one year because it's going to be the same roller-coaster that I had this year."
The Red Sox still have the opportunity this winter to negotiate a multi-year deal with the slugger, but by exercising his option it assured that for at least the start of the 2011 season, Ortiz will be in a Bosotn uniform.
After a couple of relative down years in 2008 and 2009, Ortiz, who will be 35 in 2011, rebounded with a great 2010: 32 home runs with a .529 slugging percentage and a 137 OPS+ while appearing in 145 games.