David Ortiz

Everyone was so happy for David Ortiz when he hit his first his first home run of the season. Everyone was pulling for him. Everyone was hoping that with that monkey off his back that Ortiz would break out of his slump. Now everybody is asking, "What are we going to do about Ortiz?"

Drop him down in the order? You can't have your number 3 hitter struggling to hit .200. Drop him down to Pawtucket or Portland to let him get his stroke back? But what if he struggles against minor league pitching too? Wouldn't that just crush his confidence? Should the team just face the fact that Ortiz may be done and move on? This last question may be the hardest. Ortiz is owed so much for the success of two World Series Champions. He's our Willie Stargell. You just don't show Willie Stargell the door. Should the Red Sox just keep him where he is and hope he has to at least get better because it would be hard to do any worse?

In all of baseball there are only 14 players who start on a regular basis that have a worse OPS than Ortiz. The names include the usual suspects like middle infielders Alexei Ramirez, Jose Lopez, Kaz Matsui, Ty Wiggington, Orlando Cabrera and Nick Punto; catchers Jason Kendall and Dioner Navarro; plus struggling youngsters BJ Upton, Chris Young, Josh Fields and Garrett Atkins. Then you have the cases of veterans who used to be sluggers like Adrian Beltre and Brian Giles.

These last two names probably have the most similarity to Ortiz. You have Giles who started off as the number 3 hitter for the Padres and who I think is cooked. I also have long held suspicions that Giles may have used performance enhancing drugs. I'd be stupid to think that others don't hold the same suspicions about Ortiz. The Padres at least have dropped Giles down in the batting order but Giles is 38-years old. At that age who really gets surprised when your skills fall off a cliff? Beltre? He's just 30 and the Mariners have moved him around a couple times in the line-up. Beltre also has that one Brady Anderson-like 48 home runs back in 2004.

Whatever the answer is to what to do with Ortiz. I just hope Ortiz realizes that he shouldn't be counting on the Red Sox picking up his 2011 option.