[Update 10:45 am] Maybe not, says Buster Olney. And Paoletti's original tweet about the signing no longer exists. As of this moment, Ortiz and the Red Sox do not have a deal in place.
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Mary Paoletti of Comcast SportsNet New England tweets that, during an interview with sister station NECN, Larry Lucchino announced that David Ortiz and the Red Sox have an agreement in place, and will avoid Monday's scheduled arbitration hearing.
There is no word on the terms as of yet, but given the team president and CEO Lucchino dropped the news, it's likely a done deal.
Ortiz had filed for arbitration at $16.5 million after he and the Red Sox were unable to come to a deal in December. That figure marked a significant raise from last year's $12.5 million base salary, and just as far from the Red Sox' $12.65 million filing. Ortiz stood to make the most ever in an arbitration hearing, regardless of which side won, according to Maury Brown of Biz of Baseball:
The highest amount ever awarded in a hearing is $10 million (Howard won his case in 2007, while Francisco Rodriguez with the Brewers in 2007 and Alfonso Soriano with the Nationals in 2005 lost their cases). Win or lose, Ortiz smashes that number due to his long-tenure.
Both sides will avoid that, as Ortiz, like so many others who filed for a high figure prior to arbitration, settled away from the judge. This also means the Red Sox can continue their decade-long streak of avoiding arbitration -- the last arbitration case that went in front of a judge was that of Rolando Arrojo in 2002. You forgot he existed, didn't you?