It’s likely to take a while before free agent Juan Soto makes a decision on where to sign, but already, David Ortiz is bullish on the Red Sox’ chances to sign him.
“The way the team is trying to approach him — that is a good sign for me,” said Ortiz, who appeared on MassLive’s Fenway Rundown podcast Friday from Marco Island, Florida, where he’s holding his “Weekend with Papi” charity event. “The Red Sox wanted me to be the meeting (with Soto in California), (but) they let me know on short notice and I was going through a situation with my dad. As you know, my dad’s been a little sick. It’s a situation we’re dealing with and I couldn’t go.
“But they alerted me on what was coming. Everybody’s just trying to put the pieces together so we can sign Juan Soto. As you know, I’m very close with him and his family. The financial side of it, we all know that’s part of it with the front office (and team president) Sam Kennedy, Craig Breslow and Mr. John Henry are the ones that deal with that. In my case, I want to let him know what a great organization we have and let him know about my life experience playing here with the Red Sox and how great it can be to be one of us.”
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In the estimation of most observers, the New York Yankees — for whom Soto played in 2024 — and the New York Mets are considered co-favorites to land Soto, who could potentially match the $700 million deal signed by Shohei Ohtani last year.
But the Hall of Famer, who maintains a close relationship with the 26-year-old superstar, said the Red Sox shouldn’t be counted out.
“When you’re chasing someone like him, you have to be optimistic,” said Ortiz. “You have to be confident. You have to mold the business around him and do whatever it takes to get ahold of someone like him. And the one thing that makes me optimistic is the way the Red Sox are trying to approach him. The Red Sox are really trying to get this kid, and that motivates me (further) to go and talk to him and do whatever it takes for him to be a Red Sox.”
During the recent owners meetings in New York, Kennedy paused an interview to take a phone call from Ortiz and was reportedly pleased by it. Ortiz acknowledged that call was Soto-related.
“The conversation was based on some of the things related to what we’re chasing,” said Ortiz cryptically.
Signing Soto would be a big step forward for a team that has had a winning record just once since 2019 and finished out of the playoffs five of the last seasons.
“We realize that we have to get back to the winning days,” said Ortiz, “we have to get back to the sell-outs (at Fenway Park), we have to give the fans what they expect — which is a winning team on the field that can take us to the promised land. And the only way that’s going to happen is by spending money. Everybody’s doing it, everybody’s going for the free agent, the pieces that they need to win. And we need to go back to that. That’s why the Red Sox are so interested in Soto and some of the (other) free agents.”
Ortiz, who retired after the 2016 season with 483 career homers in a Red Sox uniform, has said that Soto could be the modern-day “Big Papi.”
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“He will be the guy that handles all sides in the clubhouse — the Latin community and the American community,” said Ortiz. “That’s what I used to do when I played. Plus, what you’re capable of doing on the field. He’s the one guy who has that profile. He’s the one guy who could bring unity, good chemistry. We saw it all in New York. The guy changed everything in New York, in one year.
“You can see the difference from the year before and this year. He made Aaron Judge better. He made whoever was around him better. He has the best recognition of the strike zone out of any player in baseball right now. He has an incredible reputation. I know his parents. I’m very close with his mom, and Juan, his father. I know where this kid comes from. He has that talent, he has that power than a younger age than me when I was doing my thing. He’s got all the tools. This is the perfect guy to build an organization around.”
Asked to provide his “elevator pitch” to Soto, Ortiz was ready with his answer.
“You’re going to play for an organization that has a lot of history,” offered Ortiz. “You’re going to play for an organization that has the greatest fans. He’s going to feel like he’s going to playing at home in the Dominican Republic. And he’s going to have, in his corner, his godfather — Big Papi.”
