Ortiz may be signing four year extension

Extension may be for 2007 - 2010 at about 50 million, for an average of 12.5 million per year. Wrapping up Ortiz for the next five years (including this one) is, of course, a very important step for the Red Sox in the future.

Ortiz has been 'the' clutch player for the Red Sox. He hit 47 homeruns, had 148 RBI, and batted .300. Ortiz was released by the Twins Dec, 2002 and picked up the Red Sox as a free agent in Jan, 2003.

According to ESPN last year, Ortiz ranks:
2nd in AL in HR (47) - 1st in AL in RBI (148)
3rd in AL in R (119) - 2nd in AL in BB (102)
4th in AL in OBP (.397) - 2nd in AL in SLG (.604)
3rd in AL in OPS (1.001)

His salary has increased exponentially in the past few years. He started at just over 1 million in 2003, and last year he was paid a little over 5.