Report: Blue Jays Won’t Rule Out Pursuing David Ortiz, Red Sox DH Hopes to Return to Boston

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Oct 26, 2011

Report: Blue Jays Won't Rule Out Pursuing David Ortiz, Red Sox DH Hopes to Return to BostonThere may be a limited market for a 36-year-old designated hitter like David Ortiz, but that doesn't mean the slugger won't garner any interest on the market this offseason. In fact, there's already some reported interest in Ortiz from teams that don't play in Boston.

The Boston Herald reports that the Toronto Blue Jays "will not rule out" making a push for Ortiz, who is a free agent this winter. Of course, it also wouldn't make much sense for any AL team to rule out a slugger like Ortiz. 

That said, Ortiz may make some sense for the Blue Jays. The Jays already have a pretty balanced lineup full of sluggers, most notably Jose Bautista, who has hit more home runs in the last two years than any other player in baseball.

Still, Ortiz is insisting that he would like to return to Boston.

"I would never try to do anything to hurt the organization," Ortiz told ESPN.com. "This organization, I hope I don't have to go anywhere else. Playing for the Red Sox you have to be proud of it and I'm proud to play for the Red Sox. My agent was there and he let them know how I feel. We'll see."

Ortiz also did a little self-promotion, letting the Sox know that he's still worth it.

"If the Red Sox sign me right now they won't regret [it]," Ortiz added. "I've got so many ways to keep doing what I've been doing around here. I bring so much to this organization, I bring so much to the table here because I care so much about this organization."

New Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was asked at his introductory news conference about the situation of Ortiz and closer Jonathan Papelbon, who is also a free agent this winter.

"We know David and Pap really well, they've been huge parts of the team and we would like to have both of them back," Cherington said at Fenway Park on Tuesday. "We're going to have to see if there's a contract that makes sense for them and for us, but we would be a really good team if we had both of them back."

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