BREAKING…Big Papi will get his respect, 2-year deal, est. at $29 million

Last year Big Papi’s Achilles’ heel wound was a perceived lack of respect; this week he will get the respect he believes he deserves—he will sign a 2-year incentive-laden deal with the Sox worth about $29 million; he was very publicly disappointed with last year’s one year deal that paid $14.58 million.

July 15, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Sources say that the contract would establish a minimum yearly salary of $12.5 with performance incentives that could add up to another an additional $4 million total during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

This season an Achilles’ tendon injury shut his season down at 90 games; Ortiz hit .318 with 23 homers and 26 doubles; his OPS was above 1.000 for the first time since 2007.

Although the injury could return and limit his playing time again and he will be 37 this November 18^th [2012], Baseball Reference projects these stats for 578 ABs in 2013:

His two best offensive seasons were 2005 47, 148, .300 and 2006, 54, 137, .287, when he led the AL in RBIs.  He led the AL in walks in 2006 [119] and 2007 [111] and he lead the league in OBP .445 in 2007.

From Baseball Reference:

Career:

All-Star Games
2004 *
2005 (DH)
2006 (1B)
2007 (1B)
2008
2010 *
2011 (DH)
2012 (DH)

Wins Above Replacement† s c a p y
2005 AL  5.1 (10th)
2006 AL  5.5 (8th)
2007 AL  6.1 (7th)
Active  36.4 (40th)

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ortizda01.shtml