Sorry, David Ortiz, Yankees aren't a good fit
David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout before the start of the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. (Sept. 26, 2011) Credit: Getty
DETROIT -- David Ortiz says that given the Red Sox's disarray, he'd have to at least think about jumping to the rival Yankees.
But that doesn't mean the Yankees are thinking about him.
While the lefthanded-hitting Ortiz, who batted .309 with 29 homers and 96 RBIs this season, no doubt could do serious damage with Yankee Stadium's short porch in right, the reality is there's simply no spot for him.
The Yankees want more flexibility from their designated hitter spot and have been trying to move away from the one-dimensional, aging DH.
Jorge Posada, 40, a borderline Hall of Famer who won five championship rings with the team, was in the final year of his contract in 2011 and is unlikely to be back. The Yankees, as of now, foresee rotating their DH spot among Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Jesus Montero, who excelled after his September call-up.
Ortiz, who turns 36 next month, was asked about the Red Sox's recent turmoil in an ESPN interview Wednesday.
"There's too much drama, man," Ortiz said of the Sox, who led the wild-card race by nine games entering Sept. 4 and failed to make the playoffs. "There's too much drama. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I don't know if I want to be part of this drama for next year."
Would he consider going to the Yankees?
"That's something I gotta think about," he said. "I've been here on the Red Sox a long time, and I've seen how everything goes down between these two ballclubs."
He said of the Yankees: "It's great, from what I hear. It's a good situation to be involved in. Who doesn't want to be involved in a great situation where everything goes the right way? They lost just like we did; they just went to the first round of the playoffs. I ain't heard nobody coming out killing everybody just because they lost."
Notes & quotes: Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson are part of a team of major-leaguers scheduled to travel to Taiwan next month to play against the Chinese Taipei national team in the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series, Newsday has learned. MLB will make the formal announcement of the team Friday.
The 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series will consist of five games played Nov. 2-6 in three cities: New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung. The team will be managed by the Giants' Bruce Bochy.
With Ken Davidoff
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