Six Free Agents Red Sox Could Target To Replace David Ortiz In 2017

Let’s start off by stating the obvious: There’s really no replacing David Ortiz.

That said, the Red Sox need to somehow make up for the production they’re losing with Ortiz retiring this offseason after 14 seasons entrenched in the middle of Boston’s lineup. And there are several ways in which the organization can do that, one of which is through free agency.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski might have tipped his hand recently by suggesting the team already has multiple internal options and that signing a full-time designated hitter to a long-term contract might not exactly be the way to go. But then again, it’s way too early in the offseason to rule out anything, and Dombrowski has shown in the past he’s not afraid to pull the trigger on a significant move.

If the Red Sox decide to shop on the open market, several players could be of interest. Perhaps they’ll ultimately settle on a lesser-known addition to bolster the current roster — Steve Pearce and Luis Valbuena, for example, offer intriguing platoon possibilities by virtue of their recent success against left-handers and right-handers, respectively — or perhaps they’ll add someone with a more extensive track record and a little more notoriety.

Let’s explore the latter route and speculate on some potential targets.