The slugger is not signed for the 2013 season, but expects a new deal.
David Ortiz has 401 career home runs, and he expects to hit some more for the 2013 Red Sox and new manager John Farrell.David Ortiz is talking like a man who has no doubt he will be part of the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
All that is needed now is for the aging slugger and his team to agree on how many years and how many millions of dollars he deserves for his services.
Done deal? Not yet, even though the Red Sox and Ortiz agree that the ideal result would be a signed contract that satisfies both parties.
Ortiz is looking for a two-year deal for between $25 million and $30 million. He is hopeful a contract can be signed by the end of the World Series, which opens Wednesday and is scheduled to end Nov. 1 at the latest.
Ortiz did not wait for such documentation Sunday, when he endorsed the hiring of John Farrell as Red Sox manager.
Farrell was hired over the weekend. He will be introduced Tuesday at a press conference in Boston.
"To be honest with you, there is something about John that they can see because they've been chasing John for the last couple of years," Ortiz told ESPNBoston.com.
"I love John. John is my main man. Even when he was the pitching coach.''
Tellingly, Ortiz also offered some cautionary words. Farrell is taking over the 2013 Red Sox, not the 2007 version.
"I don't know if it's fair for him to walk into this situation that we are in right now,'' Ortiz said.
"Hopefully, everything goes well and he can change things around.
"I know things didn't go the way he expected in Toronto and hopefully it works out for him here.
"We needed something different. I think you're going to notice a difference.''
The change in Ortiz' tone has been dramatic in recent months. It bears no resemblance to the bitterness he voiced frequently in the spring, when he lamented how the Red Sox gave him only a one-year contract for 2012.
The deal was for $14.575 million. Ortiz responded with 23 home runs, 60 RBIs and a .318 average in 90 games.
He was Boston's only All-Star. His batting average was the second best of his career, and 33 points higher than his career average.
But that is only part of the story. In mid-July, Ortiz suffered an Achilles strain while running the bases.
An injury that was expected to keep him out for two weeks cost him the last 2 1/2 months of the season.
The Red Sox must now decide if a superstar who turns 37 next month can be trusted to stay healthy long enough to warrant a contract of at least two years.
Unless they are willing to give Ortiz a multi-year deal as a reward for past contributions, or feel they are otherwise so strapped for home-run power and star potential that they have no choice, it is not an easy call.
Their strong preference is to sign him. The club has plenty of salary flexibility, the result of trading Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August.
That has not gone unnoticed by Ortiz, who has often referred to his own contract as a measure of how much (or little) he is respected by his employers.
Ortiz is smart enough to know the list of teams willing to invest seriously in an aging, injured player who does not play defense is shrinking.
The New York Yankees have been mentioned as a suitor, but they may want to keep the DH spot open for their own aging, high-priced stars such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
It is possible, even likely, that Ortiz' best chance for a decent contract will be if he stays put. That is not lost on the Red Sox, but if they wield Big Papi's limited marketability against him too blatantly, they risk antagonizing a player they say they want back.
For now, Ortiz is guaranteeing he'll be healthy by spring training, and talking like the consummate company man.
Late in the season, he gave some couched support for Bobby Valentine by saying the manager's identity did not matter as much as people thought. In Ortiz' view, the burden to produce was on the players.
He was one of the players who reportedly skipped the July 26 meeting at which players complained to ownership about Valentine. Ortiz has also been openly concerned that unless the club becomes aggressive in the free agent market, it may not have the talent to regain its place as a contender.
Their aggressive may be affected, in part, by how much the Red Sox pay Ortiz.
Big Papi's comments about Farrell are the latest evidence the slugger will sign a new contract with the Red Sox.
"Something will get done. I feel good about it,'' Ortiz said.
For their part, the Sox have made an Ortiz signing a priority, now that the manager's seach is off the table.
All the two sides have to do now is do it.