David Ortiz Still Set On Retirement: 'I'm Happy With The Decision That I Made'

David Ortiz is on pace to have one of the greatest final seasons in Major League Baseball history — and, yes, he still intends for this to be his final season.

The Boston Red Sox designated hitter recently told Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan that his torrid start has not made him reconsider his future.

“I’m happy with the decision that I made (to announce my retirement),” Ortiz said. “And my feet are happy with the decision that I made, and my wife is happy with the decision that I made. I’ve got to wait until next year when I ain’t doing (expletive) to see how it’s gonna hit home. Because I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know. I think I played enough baseball.”

Are you sure, David? After all, you do own the best slugging percentage and OPS in baseball through the first month-and-a-half of the season, and you’re a key part of the most explosive offense in the majors. Are you positive you don’t want to run it back once more in 2017?

“Hopefully, nobody comes to me and offers $25 million, either,” Ortiz told Passan. “I don’t even want to talk about it. Like I said, I’m good with the decision that I made right now. But would you leave $25 million on the table? I don’t want nobody to offer me that.”

Passan, however, went on to speculate that even that lofty price tag wouldn’t be enough to prompt a change of heart. But one thing’s for sure: The 40-year-old is not playing like someone who’s five months away from hanging up his spikes for good.

The retirement question was just one highlight of Passan’s highly interesting sit-down with the Red Sox slugger. Here are a few others:

On how he’s been able to be so productive in the twilight of his career: “All people talk about is age, age, age, age. Bro, listen. I’m a better hitter now than what I was (expletive) 10 years ago. You know why? Because now I set pitchers up. My mind doesn’t get any confusion. I used to get confused. I’m gonna sit on a slider. Fastball. Boom! Oh, (expletive). Why’d I take that fastball? My whole program I used to change because of that pitch. Now, I decide I’m gonna sit on a slider. Fastball. I don’t care. Fastball. I don’t care. Breaking ball. I don’t care. Changeup. I don’t care. Slider. Here it is.”

On haters: “We have a lot of people hating. They hate because of the money that you make. They hate because of who you are. There’s a lot of directions, a lot of different ways to hate. Sometimes they hate because you are overrated. It’s (expletive) crazy. It’s crazy. It’s crazy. And like I always say, don’t be mad at me because your dad didn’t take you to the baseball field as a kid. Or he probably took you and you sucked. Don’t get mad at me for that. It ain’t my fault.”