Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington insisted Monday that the team was doing what it could to strike a deal with David Ortiz and Alfredo Aceves so that negotiations do not have to go to arbitration. Still, Cherington said that the organization must prepare for every contingency.
"We've had continued dialogue with both guys. I couldn't handicap it right now," said Cherington. "We're just going to prepare for the case. We're a team that will continue to talk right up until the hearing. We'll see what happens up until then."
Both players have discrepancies in their salary filings, Ortiz in particular. Big Papi filed for a $16 million salary while the Red Sox requested $12.65 million. Aceves was more modest by comparison, filing for $700,000 over what the Red Sox offered. The organization may be able to swing more than $4 million in their budget for offseason deals, depending on what happens with Ortiz and Aceves.
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