David Ortiz and the Red Sox held a meeting on a new contract Friday, according to the Boston Herald, and may meet again today. Ortiz filed for free agency Sunday, but the Sox have a window of exclusivity -- through Thursday -- in which they, and they alone, can negotiate with Ortiz.
But Big Papi's desire for a three-year deal, along with some of the disconcerting stories that surfaced about Ortiz during the year, has the Herald's Steve Buckley -- among others -- reluctant to bring back the franchise icon.
"He's done a lot of things lately that I'm not satisfied with," Buckley told Michael Felger on 'Sports Sunday', and he then listed them:
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"Throwing his manager under the bus on the Alfredo Aceves thing late in the season (when he publicly said Aceves should be in the starting rotation)."
"Barging into Terry Francona's press conference (to profanely complain about a scoring decision that cost him an RBI)."
"Telling CSN's Jessica Moran, 'I'm not a babysitter'. What the hell kind of leader is that?"
And then that veiled thing about, 'Oh, who wouldn't want to play for the New York Yankees?', which he later denied having said when he did, indeed, say it."
"So I don't think his diplomatic skills are very good right now."
When Felger asked Buckley if the Red Sox need Ortiz, Buckley replied: "I think they need him, but not for three years. I'm not even sure they need him for two years. But he'll probably get . . . offers from teams like Toronto or Baltimore for two years."