Supposedly retired Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is at it again on social media, firing off a vague and cryptic tweet Monday night to the Boston Globe that has again fueled rumors of a comeback.
This is all it said …
From there, speculation went wild. A sampling:
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This came barely a month after Ortiz posted a message on Instagram celebrating Boston’s acquisition of lefty ace Chris Sale.
“You guys got me thinking?” the post read, leading people to think that maybe, just maybe, Ortiz was reconsidering his retirement.
I wrote a column saying that, no, Ortiz isn’t coming back. He was just trolling. Probably. I feel the same after Monday’s tweet. Mostly. From that other column:
So, is Ortiz coming back? Who knows? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. I don’t know.
Just because Ortiz defied baseball logic with his output in 2016, it’s far from certain that a 2017 season would be anywhere near as successful.
Father Time, as they say, remains undefeated. The body has a way of aging quickly, especially in a pro athlete who spent 20 years pushing his body to the limit over the six-plus months of a major league season. More than likely, Ortiz would need to play less (even as a DH) than in 2016, would take longer to recover from injuries and would lose at least a step/split second when he did play.
Still, that doesn’t mean Ortiz couldn’t or wouldn’t be productive for the Red Sox at age 41. The question is whether he’s willing to risk a potential mediocre or poor season as the ultimate epitaph of his career on the hope of one more World Series championship. My guess is no. Not after Ortiz ended his 20-year, probable Hall of Fame career on as high a note as is humanly possible for a 40-year-old.
Spring training is a little more than a month away. There’s still time, I suppose. I’m sure we’ll get a few more cryptic social media posts before we get a definitive answer.
