This Makes David Ortiz ‘Optimistic’ About Red Sox’s Juan Soto Chase

When it comes to the Red Sox and Juan Soto, David Ortiz truly believes this year is different than past offseasons.

While the Red Sox have seen their payroll dip in recent years, falling out of the top 10 in both 2023 and 2024 — after consistently lingering in the top three to five — that figure might see a massive spike this winter. Boston does have money coming off the books, but every sign points to the Sox flexing their financial muscle this offseason, and the biggest splash they could make is signing Soto.

Boston sounds optimistic Soto could call Fenway Park home. Ortiz, who knows both the player and team as well as anyone, is a believer, too.

“When you’re chasing someone like him, you have to be optimistic,” Ortiz told MassLive’s “Fenway Rundown” podcast on Friday. “You have to be confident. You have to mold the business around him and do whatever it takes to get a hold 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.”

The Red Sox unsurprisingly turned to Ortiz in their pursuit of Soto given his ties to the phenom and his family. Ortiz revealed he wanted to be part of the initial in-person pitch, but he had family matters he had to handle.

That doesn’t mean he’s not recruiting, though.

“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.”

If Ortiz can somehow help get this across the line, and Soto is signed in Boston for the next decade and a half, it will go down as one of the Hall of Famer’s biggest impacts on the organization — and that’s saying something.