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:

BA .285

OBP .380

SLG.547

OPS .928

OPS+ 138

Total Bases 317

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)

WAR Position Players† s c a p y
2005 AL  5.1 (7th)
2006 AL  5.5 (6th)
2007 AL  6.1 (6th)
Active  36.4 (30th)

Offensive WAR† s c a p y
2005 AL  5.2 (10th)
2006 AL  5.5 (6th)
2007 AL  6.2 (3rd)
Active  37.9 (22nd)

Batting Average s c a p y
2007 AL  .332 (5th)
2011 AL  .309 (6th)
Active  .285 (42nd)

On-Base% s c a p y
2005 AL  .397 (4th)
2006 AL  .413 (7th)
2007 AL  .445 (1st)
2011 AL  .398 (4th)
Active  .380 (20th)
Career  .380 (168th)

Slugging % s c a p y
2003 AL  .592 (3rd)
2004 AL  .603 (2nd)
2005 AL  .604 (2nd)
2006 AL  .636 (2nd)
2007 AL  .621 (3rd)
2010 AL  .529 (8th)
2011 AL  .554 (4th)
Active  .547 (11th)
Career  .547 (30th)

On-Base Plus Slugging s c a p y
2003 AL  .961 (5th)
2004 AL  .983 (4th)
2005 AL  1.001 (3rd)
2006 AL  1.049 (3rd)
2007 AL  1.066 (2nd)
2010 AL  .899 (8th)
2011 AL  .953 (4th)
Active  .928 (13th)
Career  .928 (44th)

Games Played s c a p y
2005 AL  159 (10th)
Active  1,832 (25th)

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