Ortiz says still no offer from Red Sox

David Ortiz told WEEI.com Thursday that to his knowledge the Red Sox have yet to make an offer to him. The designated hitter officially became a free agent at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, with the Sox' exclusive negotiating period -- extending five days after the completion of the World Series -- ending without a deal.

"I was expecting something would happen before (the exclusive negotiating period ran out), but so many things are going on," Ortiz said. "I know everybody has priorities, and to be honest with you, I thought I was one of them.

"I guess when it comes down to this situation, they would like to see what they're going to hear out there because I've seen that happen before here with some other players. Players who have been here for a long time, they want to know what their value is in the market. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the situation."

Ortiz is letting his agent, Fern Cuza, handle all negotiations, allowing the DH to only have to worry about potential offers. As of Thursday afternoon, the 35-year-old hadn't heard from his agent since free agency began earlier in the day.

"Time will tell," he said. "I'm so used to knowing where I'm going to be the following year, but now seeing things go this way … To be honest with you, it doesn't matter where I go, I'm just going to try to be the same and do what I normally do. WOrkout the way a lot of people expect. I'll just have to listen to somebody else. The good thing is that it's not me who is doing the listening. My agent is doing the listening. They just pass on the word."

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said this week that he has been in communication with Ortiz's representatives, but didn't expect a deal to get done prior to the end of the exclusive negotiating period.

"I think we expected that 12:01 would probably arrive without them being signed here. I don’t know that it changes much," said Cherington of the Sox' two big-name free agents, Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon. "We’ll continue the dialogue and plan to talk to David again soon. Talked to Pap’s agent once earlier in the week, probably again tomorrow or the next day. Just keep in touch. I wouldn’t expect any closure on any of those guys any time soon."

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