If you're keeping score at home (and this is a great bit of Red Sox related trivia), Boston hasn't gone to an arbitration hearing with a player since 2002 with Rolando Arrojo.
That streak looked in serious doubt with the team and slugger David Ortiz due for a hearing this afternoon but lo and behold, they got an agreement done this morning.
The sides settled on $14.575 million for the 2012 season, halfway between what Big Papi ($16.5 million) and the Red Sox ($12.65 million) offered.
From ESPNBoston.com's report:
"It just one of those things that when we all had everyone in the room together it just made sense that we would get to the midpoint and get it done," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said, according to the Boston Globe.
Asked if Ortiz was happy, Cherington told reporters: "You have to ask him, but he seemed to be."
Ortiz was at the same hotel as Cherington in St. Petersburg, Fla., according to the newspaper, but left without commenting.
Cherington said that the team "made that clear again to him" that the team wanted him to return.
Ortiz's agent, Fernando Cuza, told reporters that "both sides are very happy with the deal and we'll leave it at that. This is a process and once we got together and talked it out it made sense to get a deal done and move on."
Ortiz had been seeking a multiyear deal, but Cuza would not comment on whether that subject was broached in discussions with the team.
Unlike Jason Varitek or Tim Wakefield, Ortiz is an icon for the team that still produces on the field. In 2011, he hit .309 with 29 homers, 96 RBIs and a .952 OPS. Yes, he didn't do much down the stretch as Boston suffered one of its worst collapses ever but he was far from alone in that department.
Ortiz is the best DH in baseball, a leader on the team and in the clubhouse so this was long overdue as far as I'm concerned. They can avoid any potential hard feelings that would surface after a hearing. Better yet, now they can just focus on baseball and hopefully signing Roy Oswalt.
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